How To Start A War
by Justwithportals
Summary: Nero feels tired and burnt out. He used to love demon hunting! Damn, he is a hero or something! But it all seems like just a good old memory; nothing can really spice up his days. He has only one thing left, his love for music and leather pants. Eventual: DxN
1. The Golden Ticket

**How To Start A War**

**Warning: **M/M paring(s), offensive language, alcohol, partying? , blood, suggestive themes… okay how does one tag for any warnings? Kind of an AU and lot of OCs.

**I don't own Devil May Cry; I don't get profit from this etc.**

Every song and lyrics belongs to Simon Curtis ©

**Summary: **Nero feels tired and burnt out He used to love demon hunting! Damn, he is a hero or something! But it all seems like just a good old memory; nothing can really spice up his days. He has only one thing left, his love for music and leather pants. Eventual: DxN

**Special thanks to PorcelainPills for helping with my grammatical mistakes and for motivating me C:**

Note: I don't have anything against Skrillex's music. I do like some of his songs. K thank bye

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**Chapter One: Golden Ticket**

_Nero's POV_

The train had already reached the next station when I woke up again. After opening my eyes, my thoughts began to wander around today, thinking about the job I did today. _It was so exhausting_, I thought and placed my feet on the seats in front of me, stretching my arms and gazing at Red Queen's box.

I felt uncomfortably tired, but it wasn't the usual feeling. The whole day and drama was just too much. The mission was about finding a girl who was captured by demons. The damn kid, although she was around fifteen or something, was neither lost nor captured. She was just a young, spoiled brat who has "had enough with her life".

I let out a snort. Yeah, she's done with her life? Then what about me? I'm here, in my twenties, and my life constantly revolves around finding lost kids and kicking out demons from haunted houses.

So, in fact, my job is a disaster. There was no other way of describing or sugar-coating it.

Another grunt escaped from my throat as a man passed by my seats. And soon after the conductor showed up, asking for a ticket. I quickly gave it to him, not saying a word. The man took a short look at me, I could feel his judging gaze all around my form before it drifted away, frowning at the sword's box, but he didn't say anything at least.

"Your station is the next one." The man's deep voice rang in the empty compartment, competing against the noise of the raindrops on the window. "Enjoy your travel."

"Yeah, thanks," I replied and turned back to the window, watching the man leaving in the reflection.

I frowned when I noticed some black bags beneath my eyes. Damn, I was washed out. All I wanted was some coffee, or a bed or just a calm place to sleep, but the next train to Fortuna would only depart in two and a half hours.

Thank God I already decided to spend some time in a little coffee shop I had seen before, the whole setting seemed comfy, and it was empty at that time. The next minute something was vibrating in my jeans pocket, so I quickly sunk my left hand into it, looking for the phone. The flat gadget was in the right one and I took it out, scrolling down the screen.

Kyrie had bought this for my birthday, she has a smaller one, but she said it would help us communicate when I'm abroad. She was worried about me, after all. It was a message, from her actually.

_"Please, Nero, where have you been? I called you several times, I hope you're on your way back, miss you!"_

I chuckled, and quickly typed a message back to her about my train's info. It was late, I mean, she's always in the opera house at this time, teaching little children to sing in the choir. I'm really grateful that she found something to keep herself occupied, and stop mourning over Credo. It has been… I don't know maybe a year?

However I didn't want to think about this, it was enough for me as well. I scrolled through the gallery of my phone. Pictures of Fortuna, recently uploaded album covers, and the company's original wallpapers.

I remember how the city looked like a few months ago, not really much after the Saviour thing, everything was wrecked, and families lost their home. I doubt they almost rebuilt everything, maybe only fixed the underground system along with the path under the sea.

The tunnel to Fortuna and to this city was about hundred meters under a massive amount of water, and it took nearly three hours to get out of there. Also, there's an under-water highway, next to this train line, which connects the cities and the islands. My first destination was the nearest station from Fortuna.

A huge city, filled with a bunch of factories, only the outskirts were known as livable districts, the town itself was much like an enormous device. Connecting train lines and highways around everywhere as they were it's blood lines, while the heart lied beneath. Only the poor lived in the city, which wasn't quite understandable. It was dark and foggy all the time; I didn't like the aura at all. Surprisingly, the outside districts were the only place where the smog was on a bearable level. But as I mentioned, the poor lived inside, the rich outside, in health and grace. It was ridiculous in my view, so I was grateful I could leave this all behind, just within a few hours.

The family who hired me as a "special hunter" was looking for their lost daughter. Poor mom and dad thought she was kidnapped by some demon classmate of hers, but little did they know. She actually was in the city with her skank friends, in some old facility ruins, listening to those really poorly made pop-electro songs and pumping booze into herself. It wasn't so hard to track them down, the whole place reeked of cheap liquor, so I brought back mom's and dad's precious little "princess" before the little dear would bring some real demons on her head.

But damn, it was a painfully boring and long mission. I left as soon the girl's father gave me the money, not even looking back. I was pissed, the whole aura, the music they listened to: it was dry, over-filled with special effects, no lyrics behind, just meaningless 'eh eh eh' and unrecognizable words from some dude named 'Skrill' producing this bunch of… Never mind. I won't piss myself off because someone's shit taste in music. I have my own and that's what matters anyway.

My thoughts wandered back to Kyrie as I received another text from her, to my surprise.

_"Just be safe and don't do anything unnecessary, text me before you get to the station!"_

She's worrying again, oh God.

I didn't want to text back, so I tucked the phone away into my left pocket. I just wasn't in the mood for this. Still, some things still bothered me.

Kyrie and me, me and Kyrie.

How strange, not so long ago there was this slight feeling of affection between us, and I was the one who took a step backwards, probably hurting her feelings in the process… But in the end it would have turned out awkwardly or even worse, painful – mostly for her. We're siblings, best friends, whatever we called it, but this thing between us never turned romantic. Yet I partly blamed hormones for the random affection, being young is not easy, especially when you have a demonic voice inside your head. Just as I mentioned my nowadays really active companion – the demon – gave me a mental purr, sounding unsatisfied and rather pissed.

I just shook my head in response. Great, just what I needed.

"Artemia Train Station, Artemia Train Station. Please get your ticket or pass ready. They will be expected at the exit. Thank you for choosing Artemia Travel!"

This would be my stop. I stood up and quickly stretched my arms, grabbed my gear and left the place. As I headed to the exit, a furious woman ran past me, yelling something about musicians and management into her cell phone. But she was too fast, literally just sprinting towards the exit, causing trouble to other people who looked at her angrily but she just didn't care.

A person like this makes me shake my head in annoyance. They think they have so much privilege and they can do whatever they want but in fact they're just as tiny, vulnerable beings just as everyone else.

However, when I got to the inside of the station I noticed my train was already in. The billboard said the exact departure time is 7 PM, a half hour earlier, at least. I turned back, I have to look for that little coffee shop and relax a little bit.

I was grateful when I found the place but after entering, I wasn't so happy anymore. The whole place was filled with people, not even leaving air to breathe. I huffed in annoyance. There was one table tough, with two seats, like the ones in those 50's styled restaurants. A couple just decided to leave the table, so I was quick, and sat down after they had left. I was ready to order, when somebody sat down in front of me.

"Excuse me, boy, but I just need a quick coffee, I hope you don't mind."

"Wha–" When I looked at her I recognized that woman from before. She had curly brown hair, solid, straight jaw lines, and really tired grey eyes. What a coincidence.

"So?" she huffed.

"Sure, I have to stay for at least two hours." I didn't think the last part was necessary at all but said it anyway.

"Thanks." She smiled, and turned away to get a waiter. I regarded her face beneath her curly hair, she wore a grey trench coat along with a blue scarf. She looked like some highly paid agent.

"What can I get for you, ma'am?" a young waitress finally noticed her and stepped next to the table. "And for your –" She looked at me and Red Queen's box "– for your partner?"

"Listen here dear, I just need a strong coffee and I'll pay it for myself." she followed the waitress' gaze – the girl's eyes were glued onto my frame. "I don't know what he wants."

She wasn't friendly at all, I let out a sigh and said: "Same, please."

"Alright, I'll be back in a minute." she finally tore her eyes away, giving me a wink before walking back behind the counter.

The woman opposite to me opened her purse, searching for something. It was her phone; she typed something, frowned then dialed a number. I placed my hands on the table, only noticing the stare she gave me when my Devil Bringer was visible. Yeah, yeah, the usual frown that humans give me all the time. I didn't pay attention to her too much, I felt like occupying myself with my lyrics.

When I was climbing up the stairs to the station I finally figured out a matching rhyme for my song. I've been writing it for a long time and it was time to continue it and bring it to an end. In the past months I spent my free time writing lyrics and sometimes composing music with the piano in my apartment. It was a good way to get over my work stress, to relax and stay focused at the same time.

_You're a devil_

_You're a filthy piece of trash_

_Gotta brush you off my shoulder_

_Gonna let you kiss my ass_

_You're a Diablo, you're a Diablo, you're a Diablo_

_Your shit is evil_

_Are you crazy?_

_Because you're so out of line_

_I swear someday you're gonna freak and claw out my eye_

_Oh wait, you did_

_Oh baby, baby_

_Does she take a piece of lime?_

_For the drink that I'mma buy her_

_Oh wait this song isn't mine_

"You're a musician?" The waitress was standing next to me, giving me a mini heart-attack with her high-pitched voice. As I looked up to her furiously, she placed my coffee on the table with a delighted smile. Some people just can't go around without disturbing other's private sphere.

It took me a moment to realize she thought inside Red Queen's box was an instrument, and after seeing me writing my lyrics it would've been obvious.

"No I'm…" I'm still a soldier, right?

"He's a soldier, sweetheart. Now please – give us a break, will you?"

The woman's action surprised me. But I was thankful she got rid of the girl. I was too tired to even bother telling her to piss off. The waitress gave her a meaningful look then walked away to another table. The woman in front of me took a sip from her coffee, and instead placing her gaze back onto a newspaper, she turned to me.

"You're from Fortuna?" she asked with a light frown. "I thought you're from a better place than that."

"Why do you say that?" Her question confused me.

"I'm planned to go there to find some talent, you know." She sighed. "That place is filled with talented kids, but the religious bastards hold them back, forcing their talent into their own machinery and they have no choice but to obey."

She was right after all.

"If you need some guidance better not ask from someone from the Order." I huffed, guiding my hands around the mug in front of me.

"I can take care of myself, kid." She laughed, suddenly her voice turned so peaceful. "You're writing lyrics, right?"

"Why?" I realized it was a stupid question but I was curious.

"Because I could use helping hands in my job, and you seem really motivated with your work."

Those grey eyes, framed with dark circles from tiredness and lack of sleep, seemed like shining stars for a minute.

I wasn't sure how to respond, but the demon inside me started to motivate me with a loud screeching sound. At least, I felt it was motivating me. But what would happen? Maybe she wouldn't like it. Maybe she'd think I have no talent at all, so why bother in the first place? I could refuse and walk back to my train with Red Queen over my shoulder.

But do I want that?

_Do you want to go back and be slaughter machine?,_ I asked myself, _Because here and now would be excellent chance for a breakout._ And to be honest, I wouldn't like to miss it.

"So? Interested or not?" She looked at her watch "The train will leave soon."

"No it won't." I frowned in curiosity.

"Ah, yes." The woman smiled at me suggestively. "The regular train won't, but I'm taking the private one."

Then, she held out a ticket in front of me. Suddenly, she slipped her finger, and the single ticked somehow copied itself, because in the next second she was holding two tickets. "But let's just say, if I like your lyrics, you come with me, will you, little soldier?"

"And why should I go with you?" I asked, my icy blue eyes boring into her grey ones. "How should I know you're not a demon who could suck my soul out or something like that?"

Even though this looked like a good opportunity to break out from the daily routine, I realized my lack of awareness of the situation. Let's be realistic, I met her less than five seconds ago so it was risky to trust her. This woman could be anything I've met so far in my job. She has to prove her guileless intentions somehow.

She looked bewildered at my accusation. "Well, as far as I'm concerned I'm nothing but a human being. Still, I do know you won't trust me just by this."

I nodded in response, and she turned silent for a moment, eyes wandering to my arm for a second, proceeding towards Red Queen's box.

"Let's settle it down like adults. If I get too suspicious for you, you can end my life."

Her words caught me off-guard, nearly choking on a sip of my coffee.

"Why would you give your life up so easily?" I cleared my throat, tried to not sound too skeptic.

"You see, soldier boy it's really hard being in the industry, the whole system basically chews you then spits you out without even saying goodbye." The woman took a sip of her coffee and finished it. "I've been on the other side myself and it was enough for a lifetime, if you'd ask me."

"Are you a singer?" I asked, noticing how fast she finished her mug. I looked at mine, and it was still almost full.

"Was, I was a singer." She corrected me and laughed, sounding so light at first, and just like that, the laughter faded into a sigh. "But it was many years ago. I don't think you were even alive at that time."

With a humming noise in my the back of my head, I looked back at my life for a minute, seeing if I remembered something, but my memories were only centered on Kyrie's and Credo's family.

I still wasn't convinced by her words though, even if my Bringer didn't give me the usual pulse whether it sensed inhuman activity. This woman might be a human then. But that's everything I know about her so far.

Fuck, I'm hesitating. Trying to analyze this situation further. I always knew that it was hard to get into the music industry – it has its own difficulties, ups and downs, bright sides and dark ones.

But it didn't matter whether I had enough reasons or not, being part of the Order felt just like being in a cage.

My hesitation caused her to sigh again, and she took away the tickets. But her gaze immediately turned back, when I pushed the notebook to her side. I saw the little fireworks in her look again pairing up with a bright smile. The hands immediately took the notebook, pointing finger positioned on the lyrics, reading them with a careful move, sliding the digits along the lines, just if she was looking for something.

However, her bright gaze turned deep dark when she was in the middle of my song. I felt frustration building up in my ribs; my heart suddenly began to race, pumping my blood up to my cheeks, turning them red as her lipstick. I scratched my nose and took another, last sip, just to hide my blush.

"Grab your luggage, boy. You're coming with me."

End of chapter one

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Woah! I'm pretty content with this story so far, I can only hope that you, dear reader, enjoy it as much as I do. Feel free to comment and review the story!

See you next time!

-Molly


	2. 8Bit Heart - Part 1

**Aye there! I'm incredibly sorry for updating so slowly! I had "wonderful" two weeks and school gave me writers block… But no worries! I have lot ideas for the next one (and the one after that) so hopefully I can update faster!**

**Possible warnings for the chapter: **slight OOC, OCs

**Also a note:** try to pronounce Norenat's name as "Nor-eh-nat" Yes, it's a weird name, but I'm obsessed with it for some reasons.

**Many thanks for PorcelainPills for beta-ing this chapter! I know it was a bitch but I'm so thankful that you can cope with my stuff and my grammar, honey 3**

**I don't own Devil May Cry, I get no profit etc.**

**Credits to Simon Curtis again, mostly the songs.**

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**Chapter Two: 8bBit Heart - Part 1.**

"Oh, by the way – my name is Norenat Tullia." she introduced herself as we sat down in our seats, handing me a business card. We were almost at the train, the time in the coffee shop went faster than we expected. She insisted to pay my coffee too, so I let her. Through Kyrie I've learned my lesson in letting woman do as they please. She was kind of uncontrollable when I was in the mood and went shopping with her.

"I'm working on a project for my studio – we're trying to find new voices or song writers who can shake up this generation. I don't know anything about your business in Artemia but if you've looked around in the inner districts you might've seen the state of the community. And their music speaks for itself."

"If you mean those disturbing noises by music – yes." So I wasn't the only one who felt disturbed because of this. At least I wasn't alone with this feeling.

"See? Other studios hire these DJs or whatever they call them, to make unnatural, mechanical music and destroy the people's motivation, thoughts, and happiness, anything to lure them in just for money. Oh wait –"she stopped for a second and brightened up a little. "I didn't let you introduce yourself."

"Nero Angelo."

"Hope I can see this name soon on magazine covers" she laughed.

"Would be nice, I guess"

"Alright we'll see about that. Since when do you write lyrics, Nero?" she placed her coat in the seat next to her before turning to me with a rather interested gaze.

"One day – while I was at the headquarters–, I caught myself singing various lines; they turned out rhyming so I wrote them down." I shrugged off my coat, placing it on my lap.

"Wonderful, and do you have any experience with singing or instruments?"

"I was in kid's choir back in elementary" my voice sounded so light for a second. "But due to my hand I can't really play the guitar anymore, you know, I don't want to wreck it. But the piano is OK."

"And what's with that arm of yours?" Norenat was curious, and it wasn't something that I wasn't prepared for. I was wondering anyway how she could simply pass this thing back in the coffee shop.

"I'm part-human, part-demon. I've had my arm injured, and it stayed like this." I raised the said arm, stretching my fingers, to just show my talons a bit.

Norenat tilted her head, and her gray eyes slowly started to wander around every inch of my demonic arm, her mouth slowly opening a little. But it seemed like if she noticed her behavior, and quickly closed her mouth, sitting back with a smile. It looks like that smile is unbreakable.

"What an interesting feature you have." she nodded in understanding, but then it shifted to a rather confused expression "For the record, I remember that symbol on your coat. But I thought the Order of the Sword was a religious cult, wasn't it? So how come you work for them and you possess a demon's power?"

"Well," I scratched my nose with the back of my hand, "It's a long story, you know."

"Care to tell me?" Norenat placed her phone onto the table, shifting in her seat, just to lay back a little bit, giving me an encouraging wink. There was something interesting in her smoky grey orbs that made me puzzled for a second.

"I'm not really in the mood for a heart to heart." I didn't want to sound harsh, but let's just be real.

"It's okay then" she said, raising her hands defensively. My eyes stopped at the shiny thing on her left ring finger. I wonder if she's married.

"Can I ask something?" I realized that I didn't really know anything about her – only the name and her profession – and there was one thing I was curious about.

"Go ahead."

"What happened to your career? Why are you only a manager and not a singer?" I noticed my tone changing, and quickly corrected myself. "I mean, was there someone who made you lose your reputation?

Norenat looked surprised for a minute, I might even saw her eyes darkening a little, maybe, but she just shook her head and eventually started to chuckle, looking down, staring at her hands. I could see her effort on trying to make it seem okay. I could only just wonder what hit her so badly. Damn. Maybe I shouldn't have asked this? Maybe adding that "only" was a wrong move. Why can't I understand women?

"I'm… I shouldn't have asked that…"

She gave me a sympathetic look, and sank her left hand into one of her pockets, looking after something. Okay, let's just sit back and probably don't say anything that could trigger more reactions like this. It was rather strange and unsettling how people turn from "jolly good happy" into a bad memory's dark mood. I returned my gaze to Norenat when she pulled out a little notebook and her phone. Reaching out with her left, she looked at me and said "Could you hand me your notebook for a second?" A mere second later my brain reacted, so I quickly pulled it out of my bag and gave it to her. Norenat took pictures of my lyrics with her phone and she decided to write something down.

We stayed quiet for a few moments; the only thing that disturbed the silence was her pencil's scratching and the train's loud rattling as we passed the first cities and green fields, getting closer to the underwater tunnel. In the meantime I decided it would be a good idea to text Kyrie about my early arrival.

Norenat had finished writing when I looked back up from my phone, sending the message to Kyrie; and I saw her tearing off the paper she had been writing.

She passed it to me, saying: "Here, this is the address; however I suppose you're aware about the location of the Fortuna Grand Hotel, but just to be sure. Walk up to the reception and ask for this name. He's the producer of my team, the one who works on the songs. The receptionist will ask for a room and my phone's number's last three digits." She let out a sigh. "I know this whole hiding ordeal sounds ridiculous but it's necessary to make sure that the media won't find us. You know, they're kind of a troublemakers."

I took the paper from her hand and quickly slid it into my pockets. Let's try to not forget this.

"Yeah, I guess, never faced them before." I swallowed loudly. This is it. This is my first step towards something entirely new and different. But why am I scared, no, not scared but nervous? My thoughts are running inside my head, my heart thumping. What's going to happen exactly? Will I regret this decision?

"Well, you'll have to, eventually. You seem quite terrified, Nero."

Was I that obvious?

"You know, I've been always in the demon hunting business. The media can't be worse than that." I tried to shrug off my worries, but it wasn't effective. Not for me and neither for her. I could see it in her eyes that Norenat wouldn't buy this shit.

"Maybe the first few months will be tough, but just if we have to travel that much, since we haven't found a voice yet, and actually this would be my next question, what about yours?"

"Err…" My left hand anxiously ran through my hair, scratching the back of my head.

This brought me right back in time when I was a kid. In elementary school, everyone had to go to the church and volunteer for a task. The others always treated me like the black sheep around the town who just got lucky and got into a nice family. Kyrie was my only friend. She, of course, chose the church's choir and I was too scared to participate anywhere else but by her side. My voice is not something I would consider outstanding. I had this little boy voice since I was young, and when every other buy started to mature and their voices began to change, mine was stayed the same. I was so ashamed of this voice so I eventually quit.

"So?" she was still analyzing my expression.

"We shouldn't count on my voice," I mumbled under my breath. My statement didn't seem to please her. She was just simply disagreeing with me.

"Come on, you mean to tell me that you were in a choir, write songs but can't sing? You know that I'm a professional on targeting musical people, don't you?"

"Yep."

Norenat gave me a scrutinizing look but my icy glare could bear her intense gray diamonds. Then, she chuckled lightly, but still looked really concerned.

"You're not getting anywhere with this, Nero," she laughed. "Jack won't give up on you. But…"

"But?" I raised my eyebrows at her sudden tone change.

"Nah, forget it."

* * *

We spent the remaining two hours of the travel exchanging information. Norenat told me a lot about her life – she was born into a loving family, in a city called Capulet and had a little brother called Julian. She also told me about her father's intention about both of his children must succeed in medical career, and how disappointed he was when Norenat began to take music classes in her free time. Still, he supported her talent.

During her first job as a singer in a local bar, a fatal accident happened to her mother. It was a multiple car crash during a cold day in November, after a few cars crashed together, some of them in a pretty ugly way. The car just before Norenat's mom's car was carrying a gas tank, during the collision it got too many injuries, the gas was leaking. The still running engine and the gas caused an explosion. Norenat told me that how hard it had been to look strong and independent, during this disaster. She had known how hard it was to her father, and that was the motivation for the young lady to keep on moving, achieve new things but most importantly, hold the family together. It hadn't been easy to do that, she admitted. Life was like a roller coaster, but it mostly went downhill throughout her early 20's – and so because of that, making music, being on the stage became her source of happiness, and helped to survive.

For me, Norenat seemed successful, but bitter and dry – like an office worker, so it was good that she told me that much about herself. Perhaps she tries to encourage me, maybe even to support me, and her enthusiastic personality was helpful. Through this conversation I've learned a lot about her – Norenat can easily be driven by her emotions, she even made a joke about that, describing her ex-finance's so called reason for breaking up with her.

"He scolded me because I was overly furious after he confessed his affairs." she laughed, as I watched her laugh I noticed That she had a little beauty mark on the left side of her nose.

However, it was uncalled for her to tell me _everything _about her life. I was relieved when she reached the part about her career's breakdown. Before that, she told me about her successful tours, albums, concerts, how much she loved this life, and after all those things earlier it was a relief just to be on the stage over and over again. But – and she raised her pointing finger just to cause a dramatic silence – it was just too good to be true.

Norenat told me that her brother went missing from one day to another. She was supposed to meet Julian that day, but he never showed up. It was a trauma for her, she said. Norenat hired several detectives after the police had given up the investigation. Neither of them succeeded in finding him.

Julian was a doctor, following their father's role. He had a wife and a daughter, and his wife – Rose – had stated that she blamed Norenat for Julian's disappearance. An accusation which made no sense to me.

There might have been jealousy between the two women, because as Norenat explained – or tried to explain – Julian had been always worrying about her sister; and this was maybe too much for his wife. Norenat also mentioned that after their mother's death Julian also went through a lot, since he was the one who watched her die. Norenat had to take the mother's role in the family, Julian became attached to her, which was something she didn't mind at all, in her eyes Julian had been always her little brother. Later, Norenat thought that during her tours around the country caused the feeling of separation in Julian; that she's slowly pushing him away, which brought this mother complex up. At this point Norenat denied further explanation, I could see in her eyes how deeply scarred her heart is, and I had to respect her decision.

But Norenat couldn't give up just like that. So she hired one more man to find some evidence, due to the police's only clue about Julian's latest "private patients". She told me that all that the last investigator brought back was some really small evidence that her brother had been dead for a while. The guy had found Julian's old watch - which was his father's gift for his graduation - with blood on it, and the guy described the scene where he found the accessory, and it, well, wasn't really pleasant.

Anyways, the effects on Norenat's behavior raised the media and the paparazzo's interest and they eventually found out too much about her personal life, even started to terrorize her. Some of them found Rose, and agreed with her, blaming Norenat for her brother's disappearance and even they brought his father's early death (his death was caused by several heart problems, eventually he had a heart attack, not so long after Julian had disappeared) onto her bill. If this wouldn't have been enough, a new age was already knocking on the door, so keeping up with the other artists was a real trouble.

She gave it a shrug as she mentioned the fall of her entire career and I was startled by that. She's confusing me on so many levels. But then Norenat looked into my eyes, and I could tell that she's dead serious. She made a promise, for herself, for her father, for Julian and her mother. Not giving up until she can give back something to this generation, and to turn around the falling parts and reignite the fire in the hearts of young. But she told me the team is slowly running out of time. Norenat's boss gave her a deadline which will be really urgent in the next two weeks.

By the end of her monumental life story we arrived at the train station. Finally back in Fortuna.

* * *

We just reached the city's surface, the town's lights shone over our heads, the warm glow reflecting on the streets.

It was night time. People were either in their houses, some of them leaving the station, rushing past me and Norenat. We stopped at the gate for a second. The grandiose marble angels looked down to us with their expressionless faces. There were two gigantic statues on the gate's left and right side, the angels reaching out to each other, and their arms positioning as the gate itself. It was fancy but unnecessary, if you ask me. The entire station matched the same style of Fortuna. Religious, – white and gold everywhere with disturbing heavenly icons – mixed with Sparda's face and the Order's symbols just like some propaganda.

Norenat actually stopped for a moment, shaking her head as she glanced towards to the street next to the station. Maybe she was expecting someone.

But I noticed someone else.

"Nero!" The brunette rose from a bench and waved at me, happily galloping towards me just like a kid.

From the corner of my eyes I noticed Norenat's suddenly confused reaction. She tightened the belts of her coat, looking a little alerted. The grey outerwear's collars were rounded up so she could cover one fourth of her face. As Kyrie came closer, I placed Red Queen's box on the ground, ready for the impact, but she stopped before me, looking a little awkward.

The two women met each other's gaze. To me it seemed like a good idea just to let them analyze the other, but I couldn't hide my confusion about Kyrie being here.

"Hey, Kyrie, what are you doing here?" I scratched my nose.

"I noticed your text when I left the church. And decided to come and pick you up." She finally looked at me and I noticed the timid look in her eyes. The firmly shaped chestnut colored eyes gazed at me asking the obvious: _who is this woman?_

"You've waited for me? You should've gone home." I raised an eyebrow.

"Nah, it's okay." She smiled and brushed away a small piece of hair from her face. Kyrie wore a white coat with a matching skirt. A red scarf was wound around her neck; she had matching red fingerless gloves. I also noticed her beloved high heeled boots – she told me literally everything about those shoes before she bought them and finally stopped talking about it. Moreover, I noticed she had been waiting for me a while, her cheeks were all red like tomatoes. It was cold indeed.

Perfectly cold for late October. Fortuna didn't expect snow for this year, not that it usually happened. The only time we had actual snow had been when the Hell Gates led to icy dimensions, so the snow had pretty much taken over the Fortuna castle. Sure it was cold – or at least the temperature dropped fast, but it wasn't unbearable. I always wanted to experience a true winter, like in those silly movies in the TV around Christmas. The citizens in Fortuna didn't really have Christmas in their so strict and pure calendar, they only have a day called Sparda's day or something, but it's exactly the same as every other day, they just get him in the middle of everything.

"Nero, who's your lady friend?" Norenat asked calmly, reminding me on my plan to actually introduce the girls to each other. I just noticed their differences. The woman with short, deep brown and curly hair was slightly taller than the songstress. She wore a gray trench coat and blue scarf. Her pants matched the color of her coat, and the black high heels she wore. Surprisingly, both of them looked really tired, their eyelashes slowly moving up and down, just like a butterfly's wings.

"Ah, yeah I almost forgot. Kyrie, this is Norenat. Norenat, this is Kyrie." As I switched back to reality, my bringer lazily gestured first to the older, then to the younger brunette.

"Nice to meet you, Kyrie." Norenat smiled.

"Same to you," the brunette tilted her head and shook hands with the other woman. "Sorry but... do I know you from somewhere? Your name sounds so familiar to me."

"No, we've never met before." That unbreakable smile again.

Won't she mention that she was some famous singer? What even?

Norenat turned back to me. "I would love to stay and get to know you two better but I have to catch my ride before the cavalry shows up." She grabbed her suitcase. "Nero, see you at the meeting; Kyrie, pleased to meet you. See you later birdies!" With that, Norenat left to catch a taxi.

* * *

It began to rain smoothly on our way home. I walked next to Kyrie, she fortunately had an umbrella. We were silent for a while, just the raindrops and our footsteps making sounds in the night. I always liked the way Fortuna got silent after a special hour. It was only 8 pm but everybody closed their stores, all the cars were parked up neatly on the streets, not a single living soul out. The town was all rebuild, didn't really show any evidence from the Savior event, but a tight scent still remained in the air. The Town wasn't secure anymore.

Kyrie was the one to break the silence. "So… How was the job?"

"Nice and easy. Just had to take care of a spoiled little brat," I explained with a huff.

"Really? Again?" She looked at me wide eyed.

"Yeah, looks like they always give me the shitty ones." I shrugged and readjusted the box's strap on my shoulder.

"Maybe I should talk to the head master…" she mumbled, "This is not fair."

"I don't want it to seem like I'm whining," I countered slightly annoyed "No need for more attention and hatred."

"But this is ridiculous, Nero!" She stopped, looking at me with a furious glare.

I let out a chuckle and she snapped. "No, Nero they treat you like a black sheep, that's not right! You saved a bunch of people, you saved the entire town! You do deserve respect!"

Her attitude surprised me; I turned around, looking at Kyrie. How come the little silent girl can get worked up this easily? Her face made me smile, even though she's right after all. But since I plan on giving up my career at the Order, this whole situation just didn't matter anymore.

"Easy Kyrie." I gestured her to calm down and she obliged with a frown "Besides… I have other matters to care about."

"Like what?"

"You know, Norenat, the woman you just met, offered me a job at her studio."

"Studio work?," she asked a little puzzled. "Wait a second, I remember her! Mother used to listen some artist named Norenat Tullia. She and this woman are the same, aren't they?" She stared at me in anticipation.

"I guess, I don't remember that much. Anyway, she offered me a job as a songwriter." I kept my eyes on her face. Watching the expression on suddenly change into confusion.

"That's wonderful! I'm so glad for you! But Nero," Kyrie grabbed my free arm, continuing to walk forwards like this, holding the umbrella in her other hand. "You never told me about your ambitions."

"Let's just say it started out as a hobby. I'm curious what will her team say, you know. Norenat told me she liked that one song I showed her, but the others..."

"Everything will be just fine," she said confidently and we finally reached the apartment complex.

We lived in the same house, but we had two separate apartments. We agreed on this so we could keep our privacy. Easier choice, really. Kyrie still came to visit often, especially when I wanted to cook something. She stayed a close friend and I was glad about that.

"Heh, I hope so." I opened the door for her.

"And you should mention your voice to her." Kyrie stopped to check the mailbox, and I huffed in annoyance.

"Why're you all so fascinated by my so called voice?" An unpleasant groan escaped my throat. "Seriously, women these days!"

"You know, even if you live on the other side of the corridor I can still hear your music sessions." She laughed, closing the mailbox and looked at me, smiling brightly.

"Geez, you know too much." I couldn't force back my laughter. "One day this is goin' to put me in the grave, I swear."

* * *

After closing the door behind me and saying goodnight to Kyrie, I shrugged off my coat and carelessly threw it onto the couch. I placed Red Queen's box next to the door, dropped off Blue Rose onto the coffee table, and finally, as the day's highlight, I sat down onto the slightly worn-out couch.

"Oh God yes –" A moan escaped my mouth.

Only now, I could actually feel the pain in my feet. My thighs were burning after all this running around today. What a relief just to sit down finally at my own place. No rush, no noises, just these brown painted walls, the small lounge area with a kitchen, the old TV in front of me. After kicking off my boots, I rose to get some food from the fridge. I didn't find anything useful though. I didn't want to cook, just a quick meal or particularly anything to eat. Shit, I didn't realize I was starving myself all day. Good job, Nero, good job. As I closed the useless refrigerator I noticed a note on the outside.

"Guess I have nothing else to do." I quickly pulled out my phone and dialed the number of the pizzeria.

An hour later the delivery guy arrived and I spent my "hard-earned" paycheck on food. Damn, I ain't no regretting this delicious pasta.

I sat down at the piano in the living area. My sheets were dangling off from the holder, so I had to re-organize them. There is one song I want to practice for the meeting. It had no title yet, but it's been my favorite since I wrote it. However, it wasn't something really close to my character… it was a silly love song, to be exact, but fuck, sometimes I needed this. Yeah, I won't deny the frustration in me. And because it's there and I still didn't find a way to ease it, I have no other options but to just express it somehow, and since I wasn't going anywhere with Kyrie, I decided to calm down in the artistic way. Eventually some of my songs turned out to be… a little bit too suggestive and alluring, but I decided to hide it between lines. Well, or if it didn't fit the conception, I just said 'fuck it' and wrote something slutty.

Spending my Saturday nights at home writing overly sexualized songs instead of going out and hook up with somebody. Wonderful, isn't it? But what if I didn't want to go out? I don't need a random person to wake up next to in the morning. I'm not looking for one night stands. My demon side is screaming, vandalizing my mental state just to get forward with its way. But I guess we have different opinions about this theme. So now I have to chill it down as much as possible. Hopefully this job already did satisfy it for a while at least.

My fingers ran over the keys, making half silent notes. I placed my favorite sheet on the holder and my fingers began to slide over to the notes. It's late, I'm tired, but this wonderful instrument was just so inviting. Though the clock on the wall screamed "Go to bed!" to me. Dilemmas, dilemmas.

Nah, screw it; I just love this song way too much. It sounds a little too joyful to me, but it became my favorite when I started composing it. Light chords dominate the whole song, giving it its happy and light sound. I was surprised myself that my voice could reach higher notes like this. I don't have title for it yet, but it's definitely going to be an essential song for this album, might even be the one defining the title. Although this song is surprisingly corny, it's just... my favorite. Yeah, yeah, clingy and filled with a lonesome heart's hopes, but it means a lot to me. It symbolizes another side of me; it's the exact opposite of my frustrated songs. A ballad whose melody alone is enough to make my days brighter. _Whoa,_ there goes my masculinity.

The next day went smoothly. I cleaned my apartment, organized my old songs and fixed a key in the piano, after last night I had been a little bit too passionate and hurt the ivory casing. Also I had to do some shopping, it was boring as usual. Came home, watched some TV and spent the rest of the day cooking and cleaning Red Queen along with Blue Rose. I was still nervous and couldn't stop wondering about my chances, so instead of agonizing I decide to take a shower and go to sleep.

One day before the meeting, my excitement reached new levels. Norenat called me (I don't remember giving her my number, but I might did, because my phone knew hers) and asked me whether I planned to bring some chord sheets with myself or if I needed the producer's work. I couldn't decide so we agreed on that I'll bring some one of my favorites. And then, I started practicing like crazy. I didn't care if I'm going to break this piano – well that would be a bad thing – because there's no way I let myself go easy on this. Good to know that my devil side is agreeing with me this time, I heard a noisy purr in the back of my head and it sounded just as excited as I was.

They have to like my songs.

_Have. To._

There's no chance that I'm giving up easily if they don't.

* * *

**Woah**, this was a long chapter! And I'm… not really content but the same time I am happy with it. Care to tell me how? Ugh. Thank you for reading, everyone, still if you find mistakes just mention it! See you next time guys c: _Let dem review's rain!_ – okay it's 1am don't judge me


	3. 8Bit Heart - Part 2

**Author's note:** THIS IS A LONG ASS CHAPTER I'm not gonna lie, I finished it on Christmas Eve and with this I wish a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone! I'm sooo tired now… I hope I can update sooner next time, and I don't want to annoy you with this long chapter but I just couldn't stop okay I love this story too much for my own good _/flies to the sun_

I want to write about Dante finally help / dying whale noises

Of course, I don't own Devil May Cry, Capcom does.

Neither do I own Simon Curtis's songs.

**Possible warnings:** OCs, also I try to stay IC as far as I can but yeah I can turn OOC sometimes, swearing

Again, big thanks to PorcelainPills for still keeping up with my 3AM messages and grammar and helping me. U go gurl ;U;

* * *

**Chapter Three: 8Bit Heart – Part 2**

I don't remember that the whole Grand Fortuna Hotel had been renovated. Despite the effort they have put in renovating, it still looked just like before. Overly religious, with angels and swords on the walls, and between the large windows. It amazed me how every monumental building in Fortuna resembled to the Opera house with red, white and gold ornaments and all that jazz. I always wondered whether they were serious with the decorating and architecture or just they just looked so alike "accidentally". Maybe it was because of the white marble pillars, which supported the balcony over the entrance, each of them were decorated with stunning white ivy running up on them. Everything was immobile, but looked just as lively as if it were really planted over the pillars. Also, another similar thing, there was a large fountain just in the front of the building, with hideous little cupids spilling water from their white cans with never ending foams. How come I never analyzed this building further? It was just a street down from my apartment. Moreover, why do they call this innovation?! 18th century is not modern in my opinion. Geez…

Another deep breath escaped my lungs. As the fresh morning air filled my head, I came to realize that, Hell, I was damn nervous. My bringer's grip tightened on the folder I was holding. My beloved chord sheets, my beloved songs. All I could feel was my head spinning, but I gathered my thoughts and eventually began to walk up to the building. I believed that 9 AM is an acceptable time, since I forgot to ask Norenat about it – I only realized this when I woke up today. It was cold, so I was wearing my coat, and a scarf that Kyrie bought for me on one of her shopping sessions.

I decided to wear jeans and a simple black T-shirt. I had Blue Rose attached to my left thigh, I felt safe knowing that she's by my side. But even the powerful weapon couldn't calm my nerves. Okay, breathe. In and out, again, good job Nero. I scratched my nose, feeling adrenaline rushing through my veins as I passed the fountain, walked up to the entrance the automatic door slid open in front of me. _Showtime_.

The main hall was loud and crowded. The oval shaped area was just as overly decorated with ridiculous paintings, white marble, gold statues like the ones at the entrance or basically every Fortunian building I've ever seen. Though, the setting reminded me of the main hall in the Order's headquarters, but this place had a welcoming feeling along with the strict, religious furniture.

Well, I expected people here but this was just simply crazy. Many of them carried cameras or microphones. Ladies, gents, they all were all on their tip-toes just to catch something interesting for the TV or for their papers. The air was tight with the scent of ink and mouth freshener mint but I didn't really pay attention to them. Norenat was right; these rats were already on her tail. Looking around, some of the reporters seemed really tired or angry. Either way they couldn't get in, or there are no more rooms in this hotel, which I highly doubt – given the building's size. I walked up to the reception, nearly got pushed away by some people, but I just huffed and finally reached the assistant over there.

The woman at the reception tried to get in to the hotel, asking for information about Norenat. Feeling a little nervous by her determined actions, I took a step back, waiting for her to finish. In the end, the woman – who was apparently some famous reporter – couldn't stop bragging about her title and power over the media – ended up getting dragged out by one of the security guards. It was kind of humiliating for her, but after how she behaved with the receptionist, by literally shouting into her already scarred for life face, it was enough "punishment" for the nasty reporter. If the media has people with her attitude – which is most likely to be possible – it's going to be harder than I thought originally. The main reason why I didn't want to interfere was because it would've been an awful start for a career. Not mentioning how displeased Norenat would be if I brought the media to her by my stupid actions.

"Sir?" I jerked back a little when the lady's voice rang in my ears, I have been standing there for a while, watching that reporter as she was carried out.

"Excuse me." While turning back to her I realized that with these people in around I shouldn't mention the name and the room.

"Can… can you give me a paper and a pen, please?" I leaned a little closer, my voice just a little louder than usual.

She sighed and handed me the items, and I quickly wrote down the director's name, the room number and the last three digits as Norenat told me to do. The receptionist was watching me, and when I handed the paper to her. She looked at me with peering, light brown eyes. I was so relieved when she accepted the card and nodded quickly. I only had to wait now. Catherine – as her card said – picked up the phone, dialing the room, then covered her mouth as she spoke with someone. Perhaps it was Norenat, or the guy on the other side of the phone. Another lady arrived; she was noticeably younger than Catherine. Wild black curls surrounded her round face, she looked at me shyly, her face instantly turning red, but in the next second I heard a silent gasp and noticed the horrified look she gave me. _Yep_, guess she noticed my arm.

* * *

Several levels later we reached the top floor. I walked out the elevator just to notice the girl wasn't following me. I was on my way to turn around but her voice was faster.

"The last door on the right, sir." and with that the elevator door closed in front of her, before disappearing with a little ringing sound. Ignoring this little incident and the enormous lump in my throat, I approached the door she mentioned. It said 705 as it was written on the paper from Norenat. I was just about to knock when I heard the unlocking sound, and the thick wooden door opened.

"Nero! Here you are! I'm so glad you came!" Norenat's eager voice rang through the silent corridor. She wore a white sweater and a solid blue skirt. I noticed that she forget to brush her hair, because the brown curls just hung down lazily, moving everywhere their owner didn't want to. She tried to brush them out from her eyes and mouth, but the effort was just simply useless.

"Glad to see you too." Still not sure how to greet her properly, I just scratched my nose with a talon. Not a great idea, to be honest. But hey, fortunately I have fast healing skills, haven't I?

"We were just about to have something to eat, care to join us?" She stepped aside, letting me in. "Get rid of that coat, it's boiling in here." she laughed.

The suite was huge and pretty expensive looking. Everything looked luxurious and old-fashioned, just like the whole building itself. The room – seemed like the living area to me –, was bright, the walls covered with light blue wallpaper and extremely large windows. Everything was so overly decorated though, but Norenat – and maybe her team? –, perfectly got rid over this fact by leaving things on every available surface. There were a few plates on the couch, right next to a half empty whiskey bottle, the floor was covered with documents and empty sheets, along with some newspapers and towels. Not to mention many cups lying around, on and under the table, some of them still half filled with liquid, or spilled onto the floor. Everything looked so messy. A laptop was placed on the coffee table just in front of the couch, it was turned on, probably Norenat was working. Even the huge LCD TV on the wall was on; the local news channel was showing a middle aged woman crying on the screen. It was on silent mode so I didn't pay too much attention to it. I was fascinated by the environment here and the perfectly round shaped room. The living area also led to the kitchen with bar counters, and there was someone sitting there, facing us.

"_Hey._" The man got up, giving me a light, sleep deprived smile. He had short black hair, shaved up on the sides and a morning beard; he was noticeably taller than me, but skinnier. He wore a white button down shirt, beneath it a navy blue T-shirt with the "Music is my Muse" sign was visible. Also, he wore expensive looking earphones around his neck – they were similar to mine but in a better shape. (I still haven't bought new ones since I threw them from the top of that Sparda statue, I'll regret that move for the rest of my life, I loved those earphones!) With that he seemed like a "less business more fun" type guy with the baggy jeans. He and Norenat presented a different life style. Well, he looked like half of her age, so it wasn't really surprising. But other than that he wasn't anything special, he looked normal to me.

"So you are Nero, right?" He looked at Norenat for a second, and she nodded in response.

"Yeah, and you're Jack?" I finally shrugged off my coat and Norenat and I approached the man. He offered his hand to greet me properly, but I hesitated. My bringer was visible, still no reactions? Maybe Norenat told him about me? Probably, because the guy glanced at my bringer and quickly changed the hand he was holding out.

"Ya' got that right." he laughed nervously, and eventually gave trying to shake my hand. "So, Nattie told me that you write lyrics, _aaand_ she mentioned that you might be singing for us." They shared a quick glance and I realized that they were planning this.

"Stop calling me Nattie, Jack. I'm your boss, for God's sake," she scoffed. "Well, if he's not signing the contract immediately, he'll definitely show us what he's so nervous about." Norenat turned back to smile at me, her eyes somehow calmed me down a little bit, but just the fact that they mentioned that I have to sing raised my heart beat rate by hundreds.

"We'll see about that." I scratched my nose again in my anxiety.

"Anyway," the guy glanced at my bringer again, "Nice arm you got there, and looks like it's holding our fortune." And with that he slipped out the folder from my hand and placed it on the desk, opening it like an excited child would open their gifts at Christmas.

"Yeah, uhm," I finally managed to say something, "I bought some chord sheets for you guys, since Norenat asked me to."

"Excellent!" Jack flipped the papers and turned back to us. "Matthew and the others are in the mirror room, probably practicing." He looked at Norenat with a suggestive smile. "Introduce the guys to him, and we'll meet you with my guy at the studio in thirty minutes?"

"Okay... I don't know why you called Adam though I told you –" But she was cut off by Jack.

"Just in case, we agreed on that, remember? We came here for him in the first , it's only pure luck that you met Nero on your way back there, but Adam is our ticket number one." he huffed, seeming a little annoyed, and I also noticed the change in the conversation.

"But I –" she seemed a little hesitant.

"Yeah, we all know that you work hard on this project, Norenat, but don't you think you shouldn't just throw everything aside because you have an idea?" He shook his head but laughed it off afterwards. Interesting guy… I don't think I would go against my boss's will and maybe I wouldn't imagine talking to her like that, but hey, maybe I'm missing something. "Come on, _you're_ my boss, for God's sake!" he repeated the last sentence in Norenat's furious tone before.

Why did I have to be there in a middle of their fight? Great, just _great._

"You'll pay for a fine bottle of champagne if I'm going to be right in the end." Norenat wasn't that pleased but she tried to cover it as much as it was possible.

"Alright, but if I turn out to be right I'm getting your car for a week." Jack grinned, making Norenat stunned for a second, she eventually sunk her left hand into one of her pockets and snapped the keys onto the counter with a huff,.

"Then so be it." After she placed the keys with a loud 'smash' sound, she turned around to give me an apologizing look. "I think we should be off, Nero, I'll let you meet the others"

_Well, this was unexpected._

I heard Jack saying bye to us, but Norenat didn't want to stay for too long in the room, I guess she was just annoyed. As she closed the door behind us, Norenat sighed and turned back to me.

"Sorry, I just…" she began to apologize, but I shot her an understanding look.

"It's okay, you guys are so stressed out and I just showed up so randomly." I couldn't decide how to feel about this conversation. It was a relief that I'm actually here, and I could feel Norenat's positive reaction towards me, she looks like she kind of believes me which is actually scary. It makes this whole ordeal more risky than I originally expected. On the other hand, I understand Jack. All he sees in me is the guy who suddenly shows up, they have no idea who am I, what am I capable of and it's not the best lead if we think about it. But after this I want to show them what I've got. I want to show that I am far more than just a simple guy who is good at writing songs. On this thought my demon gave me a positive boost.

"Yes, we are. But you know I asked him to call off that other guy." She shrugged "It's not like I don't trust Jack's idea, more than that, I'm proud that at least he found someone in the first place, but there is something I feel about you." She started to laugh. "Sorry, didn't want to sound so corny, it's just, ah let's call it artist's intuition?"

"I'm actually thankful that you're so enthusiastic." We reached the lift and Norenat pushed the green button to call the elevator.

"Really?" She smiled. "Others called me crazy for believing in you too much. After all, if you think about it, we're just strangers who met in a train station three days ago."

"Not many people believe in me." I shrugged, whoa, thinking about this made me realize how true is it. I can list, well, two people, or three now who actually think of me as a real person and have some faith in me. Kyrie, Dante and now Norenat.

Dante, _hm?_ I wonder where that guy actually is…

"They don't know what they're missing." The lift arrived and I gestured Norenat to go in before me. "Thank you." She tilted her head and stepped in.

"And who are these guys we're going to meet?" I leaned onto the elevator's wall, facing Norenat.

"Oh, only the best dancers in the world, soldier boy." Her smile grew wider, eyes lightening up intensively. Finally, I was worrying she stopped being the light source of this day. "_The Inevitable Fall._"

"Fancy name for a group of fellas." We reached the first underground floor with a happy ringing sound, the time flew by quicker than I expected, and the doors opened with the same intensity as they opened not so long ago.

"They deserve a fancy name. Half of the groups were young university students not so long ago; the other half was my job to gather. And I can certainly say that they're the best of bests." She was walking in front of me, her white heels made a loud clacking sound as we walked down the marble corridor. The area was leading us to the spa and other places of the hotel, like the casino or the pools. I heard loud music coming from a room ahead of us. I couldn't understand it, the beat was intense, but the language too fast, it was a remix for sure. "They're rehearsing, we should be quiet." Norenat added.

"I'm curious." I walked up to her, and we stopped in front of a thick wooden door. As soon as Norenat opened the door, we could feel how loud an intense the music was. The atmosphere of the room almost knocked me off from my feet, everything was so bright for a second. The mirrors and the light made the room extremely light. With this and the loud music I had to shut my eyes tight for a second. It felt like walking into a demon's lightning attack, but instead of pain, a familiar feeling was taking over my body. Just few strong voices could shout through the music.

"Five, six, seven, eight! And now, spin it." A male was the first, I noticed him the instant I set my feet in the room. He was standing in front of the mirror, watching the others performance. He was the same height as me, seeming to be around 25 or something. He was standing there with his back pressed to the mirrors while his gaze was running through everyone; it was kind of scary, like he was focusing really hard on something. He even had his arms folded in front of his well toned chest – he wore a black, ripped tank top which shoved his slightly pale skin, his entire body was perfectly shaped and built, strong yet still seeming so flexible. _What._

Wait, since when am I analyzing people like that, especially males? And where did the 'flexible' part came from? Maybe my brain added this because probably this is how a professional dancer looks like? Fortunately he didn't notice us yet. Norenat closed the door, and I noticed her shining eyes. She was smiling like a joyful mother, looking at her children, and seemed content with the group's work.

"Sam, your legs, higher!" The guy, who seemed like their leader tilted his head to the side, leaf green eyes shot a glare at one of the girls, giving her an imperative look. On further notice he had dark brown, maybe even black hair – in the bright room it seemed brown to me, but I wasn't sure –, perfectly shaved up on the sides, the top was lazily spiked up, like he was in a hurry while getting ready earlier.

"God damn it Matt, don't you understand I hurt my ankle yesterday?!" The girl he was talking to continued moving with the rhythm, jumping from side to side with painful expression. There were four guys – including the one at the mirrors –, and two girls in the room.

They were in a perfect square formation the girls in the middle, and a free spot on the right side, probably for the guy who was currently watching them. The smaller girl, who yelped every time she had to raise her left leg in the air, seemed smaller and younger than the other who was dancing next to her.

She had long, black curls surrounding her chestnut-brown skinned face, and seemed foreign to me, probably from a Mediterranean country. The smaller girl was her complete opposite though. Both of them moved in perfect sync, along with the team.

They were _amazing in every aspect._

Norenat began to walk up to the guy at the mirrors, but as soon as her shoes made sound on the wooden floor, he finally noticed us, seeming not happy at all. The others also stopped simultaneously, and every curious eye decided to stop and look at me in the first place.

"Okay, I guess we're done for now." The small girl walked up to the speakers and turned off the boom box.

"Hey, ever heard of knocking?" the guy huffed angrily.

"Come on Matt, don't scowl at bossy like that." Another member of the team stopped by the angered leader, leaning on his shoulder. This guy looked different from him, with his blonde hair – which had one black streak in it –, ocean blue eyes and calm features, he even seemed older.

"I'm sorry, Matthew," Norenat patiently carried her smile, "We didn't want to interrupt you guys, just wanted to introduce you to someone."

"It's okay." Matt smiled back then his gaze wandered to me. "As you could see, Sam was whining in the first place, so I was planning to stop for a whi–" he couldn't finish his sentence, because an empty water bottle said "hi" to his forehead.

"I would like to remind you that your stupid idea was the reason why I hurt my ankle!" The short girl next to him looked furious.

"Who's the kiddo, Norenat?" The blonde guy looked at me with a confused expression.

"If you let me, I gladly tell you." She walked back next to me and grabbed my right arm – to my and the others biggest surprise – and shamelessly dragged me in front of the team. "Nero, these wonderful people are _The Inevitable Fall_, in person. Guys, this youngster next to me is Nero Angelo, he's our newest member."

"Don't tell me we have to teach another guy how to dance because that ain't gonna work, there's a competition coming right next week." the tallest guy with a tribal tattoo on his neck spoke. They were standing in a line now, curiously eying me from top to toe.

"Hey, back off with your attitude," the girl next to him snarled, then turned to me and a smile began to spread on her perky lips. "Nice to meet you, Nero." I'm glad she wasn't as arrogant she seemed like before. "Let me help you understand these bastards, don't let their smug look deceive you, they're all dorks."

"Thanks, Meg." Matt frowned at her as the said girl walked up next to me.

"Well." I feel like speaking is going to be a little tough for a while. "Norenat told me fancy things about you, and by watching you guys practice I see what she meant by that."

Everyone looked at her oddly, and then they started to break into unstoppable laughter. I never felt so confused in my life before. Okay, maybe not so long ago when I stated that the leader guy looks flexible, because that was pretty weird.

"Yeah, she probably lost her mind when she invested in us and of course she couldn't say a bad word about us." Meagan smiled at me, standing next to me, she seemed smaller by only a few inches. Those light green eyes shined at me, just like Norenat's always do. Are all women like that?

"So, let's begin, m'kay? That guy on the right, with his head up so high is Matt, Matt Sirus, our leader, the coordinator, the one who creates our choreography with Sam. Tyler, Sam and Matt are the founders." She had Italian accent by the way, along with a smooth, melodious, rather deep voice. "Whatever you do, don't call him Matthew, save that for when you're pissed and want to pick up a little fight."

"Nice to meet you, Nero." He nodded at me and sported a nice grim look towards Meagan next to me. Or for me, I couldn't decide. "Don't worry I'll only bark, I won't bite."

"The one next is our beloved Tyler Curry. He's our volunteered stylist and an amazing modern and Latin dance expert." She gestured towards the blonde guy who was in close encounter with Matt's shoulder and he smiled at me. The only one who seemed mature amongst the others but had the silliest expression on his face I've ever seen. He had that fashion-conscious feeling around him; I could tell that he matched his outfit with his appearance – such as the light blonde hair color with the tiny black streak in it and ocean blue eyes, while the others just seemed like wearing their favorite clothes for this practice. He seemed kind of a mix between strong, masculine features and obvious feminine ones. But on his behavior he seemed like the oldest from the group, but still had that silliness.

"Nice to meet ya." I couldn't do anything but respond with an awkward smile.

"Okay, let's move on, shall we? You've probably noticed Sam or Samantha Norton," Meagan continued happily. The girl looked up at me (she was by far the smallest person in the room) with a content smile and waved. She was the one who hurt her ankle. Sam had the bridge of her nose pierced.

Somehow her outfit didn't fit the punkish features; she wore a purple top with black pants. Her dark, blood red hair was combed up in a little ponytail, it was shaved up a little on the left side and her face even matched the hair color, cheeks burning in a vibrant red color, looking overwhelmed and exhausted, it was obviously because the intensity of their rehearsal. I felt a little bad for interrupting them, even if it wasn't me who got noticed in the first place.

"Next, you have our laziest dancer, Zane Bowen. Zane and Sam coordinate our music and other little things." Zane looked unimpressed by Meagan's introduction, but when he looked in my eyes I could see in those brown eyes that he couldn't stop a smile spreading on his face. I felt relieved by that, not really sure why. He also looked really friendly, just like the others. Also he was the one with the tribal tattoo on his neck, taking a closer look it's pattern went down on his back, since it disappeared under his shirt. He wore a white T-shirt with matching pants and shoes. His black hair was in the way of his eyes, he could easily brush back his hair. Zane seemed like an athlete to me, which was interesting, because all of them were in a healthy shape, their bodies showed the sings of impressive workouts and dance sessions, but I began to wonder if Zane was an athlete himself, to me he seemed like a water polo team member.

"Of course, not to forget, there's Andrew Montana." She gestured to the last male in the line. He looked quite average with short, brown hair; pleasant grayish eyes that looked at me with childish interest. His green T-shirt had some video game character on it, it was some white dude with badass swords and he wore white lounge pants and sneakers. He had a neatly build up body shape, along with the other men in the team. Andrew, while listening to Meagan found a way to slip between Tyler and Sam, he was carrying another water bottle and when Matt noticed that he instantly decided to step back away from the obvious danger. They all seemed like grown up kids.

"And of course, Nero," Matt raised his voice before Meagan could continue, "Next to you, there is our pretty Swan Queen, the ballerina of this bunch of hunks, Meagan Bellerimo." Matt jumped up on his toes, impersonating a ballerina, making the others laugh at him, Meg on the other hand was only chuckling at his actions.

We spent the next minutes exchanging information and by that I mean Norenat and I were just watching them fool around, or as she said, they introduce themselves by their actions. Just like a big family. Matt and Meagan are the only ones who really act like adults, sometimes Tyler joined their "normal" behavior, but he seemed rather relaxed and maybe a little sassy to me. Sam was obviously the heart of this group, she was energetic and even if she bitched a lot about her ankle she acted like a little sister to everyone, only Andrew seemed a little distant to her, but Sam told me they're childhood friends. Maybe he was, _no_, obviously he sees her more than a friend, which was interesting. Zane and Meagan were the "latest" members of the team; Matt told me that they only joined a year ago, even though the team was founded five years ago, when Sam, Matt and Tyler were all done with their academic studies. Matt told me everything about their work with Norenat; he seemed intelligent, but a little too cold to be this friendly. I could sense that he was rather anxious than cool when talking to me.

I wanted to carry on and spend the day with getting to know them, but Norenat's phone rang. It was Jack, asking us to meet him at the studio. He finished composing and rehearsing with his guy. Norenat looked at me with suggestively, she was nervous, I was nervous; adrenaline rushed though my veins as we began to walk to the elevator again.

The dance crew curiously followed us, making the small lift rather uncomfortable. I didn't mind them; it was just too small for eight people. We reached the top floor, the corridor leading to the studio area felt a little bit too long, I was holding onto the belt on my left thigh like my life was depending on it, I could feel my knuckles turning white.

My demon side was purring loudly, I was afraid that any of them could hear it, fortunately they were talking – sometimes to me but I didn't really notice it – too loud to even sense it. Also the fact that none of them freaked out by seeing my arm was pretty surprising. However in the elevator Matt once asked silently if it was real and I only gave him a nod; the others weren't interested in that. I was wondering why – and I was thankful that my mind tried to distract me from the anxiety developing inside me – were they so casual about my bringer? Was it normal for them? Maybe they've seen odder things that my arm? Usually people either freaked out or talked behind my back for my looks and arm, but the dancers didn't and I can't believe how happy this made me feel. I could defeat any monster in my way right now. And my mind began to look at the obstacle, this little even in front of me in a different, calm way. _I can totally do this._

As the door to the studio flew open, Jack waved at us, and eventually hushed the noisy group. There was someone through the glass wall, standing at the microphone which was hanging down from the ceiling and singing in a really peaceful voice.

He had wide shoulders, but still looked so fragile at the same time. His blonde hair surrounded the surprisingly childish face, he must be younger than me, and this actually scared me. Not really sure why, but his voice was also off to me. He was singing Diablo – the song I had been writing at the train station. Yeah, that's why it was so off. He sounded like if he was singing to his best friend and joking with the 'names' or just calling this imaginary friend 'filthy piece of trash' just for fun.

We gathered around Jack, watching the boy performing. Everybody seemed amazed by his voice; even Norenat raised a brow at him. I looked at her, and she nodded back to me. He was too tender, too fragile for this. When I originally composed this song I was raging, it was right after Dante had left Fortuna, not giving me any information about contacting me again. Even remembering this pissed me off on so many levels.

I didn't tell Norenat who Dante actually was, it wasn't necessary for her to know, and a part of me wanted to hide the fact that this is song is, yeah, it's actually about him, or was written for him. Anyway, I slowly turned my vision back to the singer. I'm sorry but no, this is… Not how it is meant to be. Suddenly my demon side ached to stop them and walk up to the microphone and sing it myself, but I decided to stay calm. Jack looked really pleased with his friend's work; however I and Norenat didn't support his happy gaze.

"Okay, Adam, thank you. That was amazing" Jack leaned into a microphone that supported his voice through the thick glass wall. Adam stopped and looked at us nervously. I could've sworn he even blushed. I let out an unsatisfied groan.

"Try the new one." I couldn't stop the witty comment.

"Why? He was simply amazing." Jack looked at me furiously but Norenat was agreeing with me and hurried him to do so. The others watched with intense eyes, okay, Sam was arguing with Zane because she wanted to sit down, but still everyone watched the tense situation.

"Just please, I want to hear the other side of his voice." I folded my arms in front of my chest, eying Adam suspiciously through the glass wall. He blushed and quickly turned his gaze back to the microphone.

"Fine then." Jack sighed and leaned close again. "Hey Adam, um, Nero asked you to sing the one he brought this morning, ready?" He didn't even finish the sentence the music was already on. I pitied Adam for a moment, he seemed so off from the songs and scared, yeah poor kid. It was obvious he was too nervous for his own good.

___What would you say id I said that I want you?  
Would you laugh at me  
Aand maybe think I was crazy?  
____'Cause I don't know any other wa_y  


_No._ No in too many ways. Adam didn't get that desperate feeling behind the sweet scent of the song. He sounded happy, and that's all; not bitter and edgy like I wanted to hear. Clearly they misread the whole conception of the song, and I wasn't really surprised to be honest, since Jack didn't ask about my thoughts. It might've been hard for him to find a good lead, part of me didn't blame him, but the other part… The other part just wanted to drag out the poor kid from there. Not because I'm an asshole, but I can definitely say this is not good for his voice. He went on a deeper note, I could hear how hard he was trying and I felt so bad. No matter how hard he tried the feeling he gave to the song just wasn't what I wanted to hear.

I should've given him instructions and tell them the story behind the song. _Well_, maybe not telling the back story of the song, because it would be kind of confusing to them, and even for me it's – it's embarrassing to confess that hole in my chest and the emptiness that's filling me since a few weeks or maybe even months. However, I guess have to do everything on my own. I had no other choice; I stepped next to Jack and shook my head in disagreement. He looked up at me from his chair, now he looked pissed, stopped the music – and scared the hell out of everyone, including Adam.

"What exactly is your problem now, Nero?" he huffed angrily, and even if I knew how stressed out he was, honestly I didn't give a damn about his reaction.

"You're right, he's good. He proved it." I tried to sound as cool as an iceberg in the middle of a snowstorm. "But there's one thing I want to show you too."

Jack sighed, looked back to Norenat for some help but she raised her hands in defense and stood back. He growled, and muttered something under his breath but I didn't care about it all, I desperately wanted to show how thing song originally should be. Poor kid's performance pissed me off, and it wasn't his fault at all, my expectations were too high.

"Good luck, Nero." Sam waved at me as I approached the microphone. The air in the recording area was thick and unwelcoming. It was so silent in there I could hear my own heartbeats, the impatient beating was uncomfortable in my throat, but it disappeared quickly as the music started.

___What would you say id I said that I want you?  
Would you laugh at me  
Aand maybe think I was crazy?  
'Cause I don't know any other wa_y  
than to say the way that I feel  
But it doesn't ever work  
and it hurts to the bone  
always feeling so damn alone

_Is it so, so wrong to love?  
Baby is it so, so wrong to love?  
Is it so, so wrong to love  
and to be loved in return_

My head started was spinning intensively, my voice stayed in the same, mid-deep tone at the beginning, sometimes scaling up higher, my voice turned out way softer as I heard it in the silent recording room. I kept reminding myself mentally to pay attention to the longer notes, letting them sound perfectly. Even a sincere smile began spread on my face, as the second verse started. There was no turning back now! I went on higher and higher notes, even surprising myself, and while repeating the chorus; suddenly, when a higher note came, I shut my eyes tightly just to force everything out of my mind and sight and form my voice perfectly. As the song reached its climax and ended with a nice fade I took a deep breath. It was short, but the base sound and beat was perfect, at least Jack got this perfectly. This song speaking for me, I loved it, just the title was missing.

Maybe I went too far while singing, but it was a relief letting out all that stress that was building in me lately. As far as I'm trying not to sound corny every time, this song gets me, and I was gladly submitting to give my best. I didn't want to screw this up, I wanted to be free from all that trouble I've been through, feeling alive was not much to ask, am I right?

Opening one eye, I nervously took a quick look at my little audience and I could've sworn everyone was blinking widely. Norenat's face was priceless, her mouth was half open and it looked like she was either trying to breathe or say something, I didn't want to fall out from the song so I turned my concentration back to the microphone. As my lungs sported the last chords out and the music faded away I was relieved and pleased. Yes, this is how it should sound and I'm not letting my expectations go lower.

"That was–" Jack looked at me without any expression at first, but then a smile showed up on his face. "Okay, Norenat keep your car, this was fucking amazing!" he started clapping.

"I told you so!" she laughed and ran to me just to hug me really quickly. "Geez, Nero this was your voice is outstanding! And you were nervous? Gosh I'm still shaking, ah–" She let go of me and even blushed a little. "Sorry, I was just… You were so in the song, giving your soul to it, living it perfectly!"

"Yeah I was just giving my best." Everyone was cheering; even Adam smiled widely at me. I've pleased the demon inside my head, it was purring peacefully. A loud sigh escaped my throat as I walked out meeting everyone's happy stare. They welcomed me like a long lost family member and everything seemed so perfect for now.

After the little celebration, we said goodbye to Adam. Norenat however gave him some contact info if he's still interested. He didn't seem disappointed or sad at all. Even Jack was happy that Norenat won their little bet, when we all returned to their suite he gladly paid for that extra champagne – and for even more bottles. We were standing in the middle of the room; everyone was holding a glass for themselves as Norenat announced me as the lead singer of the group and "soon to be famous singer". I spent a few hours with the dancers again, revealing more and more things about them, like Sam's addiction with the video game called Just Dance, or Tyler's helpful fashion ideas – when I was just nodding because I have literally no idea about how fashion works.

I stayed with them all day, writing and signing a few contracts, talking about necessary things then three of us – Jack, Norenat and I – returned to the studio to continue composing music together. Jack did a good job with my new song's music adding the keyboard to it instead of the piano. Norenat suggested that we should carry on with this electro-pop genre because it's obviously popular nowadays. Through the hours I got to know Jack better, he seemed nicer than at our first meeting or in the studio. He was a pretty chill guy, joked a lot and sometimes paid too much attention to unnecessary things, but it was fine.

Eventually time passed by with the speed of a shooting star; the sky was deep dark outside when we finished composing two songs – _Diablo_ and the new one. The paparazzi were already gone, so Norenat walked to the reception with me. She thanked me for literally everything, and I told her I should be the one saying "thank you" to everyone but she hushed me. In her forever happy gray eyes I saw the protective mother waking up, it was still weird when she acted all motherly around me, but it was also a good thing. She made me feel like I belong to somewhere at least. Norenat asked me to go home and most importatly, sleep and wake up with the same spirit, and come back, and maybe in the meantime think of a good album title, and also find one for the song I sang for them today, she admitted that it was her favorite. I promised her that I will and we said or goodbyes.

After I arrived at home, I grabbed some food, there were only some leftovers in the fridge, and thank god Kyrie cooked for me yesterday so I had something to eat. I finished my meal quickly, placing the dishes into the empty dishwasher. A shower was pretty much needed, I was tired and every part of my body just wanted to return to my bed and sleep. However, under the hot water my mind was pretty far from tired for a minute. Since I finished singing that song at the first time I was agonizing over Dante. Weird, it didn't hit me how much I was pissed because of him until I heard Diablo from someone else's mouth. I was selfishly holding onto that song and it seemed so ridiculous. I even tried to hide my red face and cooling it off on the cold shower wall. God damned old man, why did he just leave like that? He left Yamato with me but what was the reason behind it? Part of me really wanted and expected him to show up one day just to check on the sword. Another part of me was just blatantly worried. Enough is enough, I stepped out the shower._ I'm going to sleep and deal with this later, _I thought to myself_._

It was midnight when I decided to finally lay down on my bed and putting this day to an end, out of nowhere a sudden realization hit me like a cold pile of snow from above. I got it. I got the perfect title for the album and the song itself:

_8Bit Heart._

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Oh well, this was an interesting chapter. I really loved introduce you guys my munchkins – I don't know why do I call them like this but I find this just extremely cute v.v See you next time!


	4. Even The Devil Wouldn't Recognize You

**Author's Note:** So um I'M really really really deeply sorry for taking so long with my updates, but you know guys, my school is getting harder and harder and teachers barely leave me free time and when I'm not studying I have to take some time to get my head together, and sometimes I can only write when the mood strikes, so yeah… _Gomen._

As much as I felt like giving Nero an alter ego with these songs I don't feel like if it's a good idea. I'm not sure if it's necessary, and on the other hand I pretty much changed my mind for obvious reasons. As Norenat herself said, I hope "I'll see your name on a magazine cover soon" Also I didn't include ever song to this chapter, because that would make it unbelievably long and I will only explain the rest.

And I added a cover for the story! If you guys want to see the whole picture hit me up on tumblr (justthinkingwithportals) and on the sidebar select the 'Fanfiction & Artsy Tag' for it and to find HtsaW chapters, character concepts (such as for my dancers or Norenat) and some fanart! :)

**All my thanks for PorcelainPills because correcting my stuff is FUN FUN FUN.**

**Possible Warnings: **OCs, swearing, immaturity, alcohol use, (my stupid ideas), and slight OOC

Devil May Cry is not my property; I do not make profit from this.

Every song belongs to Simon Curtis.

* * *

**Chapter four: Even The Devil Wouldn't Recognize You**

Icy blue eyes sported an excited look. Beneath the ridiculously long eyelashes and flared up cheeks, two lips moved soundlessly to the lyrics of a song. I was staring at my reflection for a long time now, supporting my weight with my arms as I leaned against the dresser. The guy who was in charge of my stage clothes gave me simple black skinny leather pants, a white, ripped shirt and washed-brown combat boots.

I couldn't help but smile to myself … I went through a lot and my features haven't changed at all. I was content with my appearance even though I had been afraid that I would gain weight and lose the nice body shape I managed to keep up while hunting demons when my career as a singer started – but oh no. Even if working in the studio was rather boring sometimes, the guys gave me a nice work out every day.

"_Five minutes Nero, come on!" _The coordinator opened the door and ended my daydream. I followed him behind the huge LED screens.

I've never felt my heart pounding this hard. Pure flames rushed through my veins, filling me up like a laser beam. My face was on fire, I could just only hope that the slight make-up stays, but the make-up artist said it won't last long and that I was going sweat like hell. I can already feel my skin as it gets cooler than usual. I had to breathe faster. My bringer was shining brighter than usual, its blue skin lighting up the darkness behind the stage where I was standing right now.

Norenat told me there's a huge audience outside, waiting for me tonight, and I could hear them: the frantic screams of teens (mostly girls), the cheering, talking, yelling.

The club where we performed was a huge place. It was a popular night club with dancing stages and one large concert stage. What was it called again? Orchid Lounge, I guess, I could barely remember the name or anything else at the moment. Sam and Meagan passed by, saying encouraging words as they both headed to their places on either side of the T-shaped stage. I could only see Meagan's outfit in the dark, she wore red plateau boots with golden spikes, ripped darkish colored jeans with straps hanging down from her hips. She wore a ripped white tank top, showing a little, bleeding 8Bit heart which was also presented on my shirt, after all it was the emble of my album. Out of nowhere those dance courses flashed up before my eyes just like movie scenes.

Nine months have passed since we left Fortuna, time flew by quickly. I was kind of worried of Kyrie in the first weeks. The team went back to the city Capulet, and I also decided to move with them. But I was honestly surprised that Kyrie was the one who helped packing my stuff. Of course, she had been sad – I could see it in her eyes, even if she tried to hide it–, but also eager that everything was going to be fine for me. She promised she'd visit me occasionally, because she'd been taken the place of the music teacher of the kid's choir, so she can earn more money to buy tickets to visit me. However, Norenat must have overheard our conversation, because she promised me later (while we were on the train with everyone), she'd take care about it so that Kyrie wouldn't need to buy tickets, she could come and visit me every time she wants to.

Everything happened so fast – we arrived in Capulet a few days after my first meeting with the team, and the first few weeks were kind of stressful. First, I had to adjust to the city itself; it was everything that Fortuna wasn't. Huge, loud, filled with people and other creatures – my demon went through a quite annoying phase during these days, making me jump on the slightest change of auras –, everything was so lively.

Tall buildings created the inner circle of the city, this was the elite part, I could tell by the skyscrapers and the people there: expensive cars, stores, restaurants, whatever one would use to describe the posh lifestyle of these humans. Everything was so bright and noisy – I could barely sleep on the first nights. The other thing that surprised me was that literally no one gave a damn about my arm, and I couldn't believe how relieving this was. Norenat smiled at me when I told her. Later, she also helped me find an apartment in the building she lived. Well, she didn't help me finding it, she _bought_ it immediately.

The ex-singer lived in a rather luxurious looking building with nearly thirty levels right next to a busy mall. Norenat owned an apartment with two stories just under the apartment at the top. During the first week she offered me one bedroom in her apartment, but once she found out the neighbors from the upper level moved out, Norenat immediately took the opportunity and surprised me. I was in a middle of a bath when she nearly knocked down the door, eagerly yelling about the place above hers, and how she bought it just for me.

Norenat, a woman I knew for barely two weeks bought me an apartment at the top of a skyscraper, a fucking _skyscraper._When I finally came out from the bathroom she was already holding the keys and I just looked at her, asking if this woman had just lost her mind.

The place had a quite nice view; we could see even the routes out of Capulet from its balcony. I asked Norenat a few times is she was really serious. It wasn't necessary at all, when I left the Order, they gave me a nice paycheck so I could have rented a smaller apartment myself, but she just looked at me smiling widely without a word, then instead of answering, she left me in the new apartment to take a phone call or whatever.

I remember the first time being there… Part of me was really thankful that it was fully furnished, even if the design was a little bit too generic. The kitchen area was connected to the living room; on the end of the kitchen was the entrance of the apartment, on the other side the door leads to a balcony. The place had two bedrooms, a smaller, looking like a guest bedroom and the main one which was noticeably bigger. I stepped into the unfamiliar bedroom, looking at the soft sheets and I couldn't stop myself to jump in like a kid and let the pillows and satin bedding cover me. It felt nice, way better than my old apartment. Though part of me missed the old and kind of salty scents which reminded me of the ocean, and I missed knocking on Kyrie's door whenever I have no idea how to cook myself a simple dinner. I'm not sure if I could manage that with Norenat, even if she liked cooking she wasn't better chef than me…

"How am I even supposed to pay that back?" I thought back then… But after releasing this album everything turned around in my life. First, recording the songs, waking up early, meeting Jack at the studio until noon, when usually Sam or Meagan brought us some food and we went to the daily dance lessons.

The guys planned an entirely different set of courses for me. I had two types of classes: basic dance moves with the girls, and an immediate modern class with Matt. I enjoyed working with the girls but somehow Matt and I got along better, maybe because of the girl's music selection – they listen to a lot of Asian, mostly Korean pop. Matt however prefers the same kind of electric-techno type music just like me.

So, the girls made me do things that I'm not exactly sure I'm proud of or willing to admit. They showed me moves and every time I tried to protest and actually point out that I am a man, they just laughed and said "Oh, of course you will do this" and sadly I had obey their will.

I arrived at home in the late afternoons, sometimes Norenat came over to discuss some important parts of the upcoming concert, some nights I finally got a change in my life. I also went out with the guys to actually have fun and feel good. Most of the nights the girls were guiding the whole team; they had some crazy friends in different kinds of nightclubs. Most of the time we went from a steady, lounge type place to obnoxious and crowded clubs. So yeah, I think I'm now living my life in an interesting and new way, though my energy was still enough to give my best in studio. I'm pretty sure I could get used to this.

But still... whenever I went out without my weapons I felt pretty vulnerable, even if I still had Yamato dissolved in my bringer, but every night I made it home without any trouble it was a relief to see my old companions back. Sometimes I still picked them up, practicing and kicking off a few things in the apartment, but it was sure good to handle them and my strength was still the same. It's such a shame that they have to rest on the wall as decoration. At least Red Queen had to be placed as decoration, Blue Rose rested in my bedroom under the spare pillow.

"Hey Nero, are you alright?" Norenat patted my shoulder, again waking me up from my swift river of thoughts; I should really focus on what's happening around me.

"Yeah, I'm just nervous I guess?" I gave her a pale smile in response. She wore a nicely designed, two toned cocktail dress, the top part was dark purple and towards the end it was light. It reminded me of a silk waterfall but its purpose was obviously to hide her wide hips. I've learned that she whines a lot about her figure, though it's not that bad considered that she eats like a kid; everything unhealthy, even if I heard her mentioning some kind of diet. Sure, diet.

"Who wouldn't be, right?" She laughed in a rather delightful tone. "You'll do good, boy," she added, running her hand through her thick curly locks. "You must feel exactly the same as I did before my first con–" but she was interrupted by the furious assistant who was running around like a madman, sending the dancers up to their starting places and suddenly my heart skipped a several beats.

"Break a leg!" was the last thing Norenat said before leaving me alone with my nervousness.

I grabbed a microphone and took the first steps to the stage.

_There once was a boy_

_Who was made, not created_

My voice became a little shaky, but the deeper sounds that escaped my mouth were strong enough to hide my uneasiness. The crowd started screaming and yelling, the whole audience waved at me. I spoke into the microphone that I was holding in my human hand, rooted to my place in the middle of the stage. Around me, the two girls were positioned at the dace poles on left and right, the guys were near me in a simple formation, they didn't move a muscle since I stepped on the stage.

As the tension started to build up, they started to move in slow motion, slowly reacting to the little story which started the performance.

_He wanted to learn_

_He wanted to indulge his senses,_

_To understand pain_

_But most of all,_

_He wanted to love_

_For only when he found true love_

_Would he become real_

The whole stage bathed in the brim red light but at the same time it was dark and surrounded with white reflectors, switching the black, white and red shadows around me.

The colors partly fit the place itself. The Orchid Lounge was a vivid mix between upper and middle class taste, switching between marble statues, little fountains and cozy, lounge type setting. It held concerts and parties at the same place, the stage was in front of their huge and mysterious but most importantly exotic looking bar. The neon colored counters were lit up in the same red-black-white scheme as the stage, matching the colors of the performance tonight.

_He traveled far and long_

_But love eluded him_

_The humans that surrounded him_

_Complicated the word,_

_Strove to drive it out of the world altogether,_

_And this he could not understand_

It was weird, seeing the crowd going crazy to every little move I made. It all seemed like a dream, a really important one, where I could face every person I was presented to. They wanted to see _me_, they didn't judge or hate me, they came to hear _my voice._ I was deluded by this light feeling, my heart now paced in a more happily excited than terrified beat. It wasn't about getting famous and sell myself to the audience, they weren't just simple consumers, they _understood_.

_For what could be more simple_

_Than to love_

_And be loved in return?_

_He was made_

_With an 8-Bit Heart..._

I finished off the story with a deep steady voice, finally stepping into the spotlight of the stage, seeing the excited looks in the crowd as two of the dancers began to circle around me, prepared to move as soon as the first song started. The song echoed through the walls, the music ran through the venue tickling everyone's ears along with my voice. I was afraid that something could happen, for example that my voice would crack, but the opposite happened. I sounded more confident than usual. Something was in the air that tingled my devil senses. Something really familiar, I just can't put my finger on what it was.

Around me the dancers did pretty good work, just like during the training. During the first song – _"Don't Wanna Be Alone"– _the girls showed their incredible talent with the tall silver dance poles. When they heard that there would be opportunity to dance on them, they started to nag Tyler until he gave in and taught them the basics – I guess it will be secret for the rest of our lives where _he_ learned tricks like that. It didn't take too long until they started annoying me with pole dancing. Yep, I had to give up all my remaining masculinity and learn how to dance on poles. I will not give them the happiness and never admit to them that I liked the spins and pushups, _never. _

I couldn't wait until the song where I finally had the chance to get around the lonely little stage in the middle_._ As a rather symbolic song, _"Fell in love w/a android"_ passed – Matt and the others had a really cool stage set for that: the light shone around them while their movements were mechanically and with jerky – as if they were robots. But I could feel the air thicken when the third song started. The start of _"Super Psycho Love"_ was slow, but the lights went crazy when the little 'ha' sounds filled the chords. Bright red and white reflectors ran over our heads, suddenly making every eye dizzy and see deluding fireworks.

_Something lately drives me crazy_

_Has to do with how you make me_

_Struggle to get your attention_

_Calling you brings apprehension_

Damn, I had been waiting for this! I ran to the middle of the stage, grabbing the pole which was illuminated with white lights and used all my strength to spin around and hook my legs on it, my voice not even missing the notes or rhythm. I leaned back from the pole, still holding to it with my devil arm, pushing my hips against the metal and turning around with an aroused expression. The screams became louder and louder, some people started singing along with me which was a surprise. I mean, the album came out like two months ago?

_Texts from you and_

_Sex from you_

_Are things that are not so uncommon_

_Flirt with you you're all about it_

_Tell me why I feel unwanted?_

_Damn if you didn't want me back_

_Why'd you have to act like that?_

_It's confusing to the core_

_'cause I know you want it_

_Oh, and if you don't wanna be_

_Something substantial with me_

_Then why do you give me more?_

_Babe, I know you want it_

I jumped away from the pole, spinning around on the floor a few times, then I galloped back to the center, joining the others, and as they danced around me I continued to sing in a both deep and high pitches, allowing my body to move with the rhythm. The music built up the tension around us and when the lyrics followed again I grabbed Matt's collar and dragged him closer. He followed the movement, looking at me with his shining leaf green eyes. Then, he grabbed my waist and we moved together – he was leading this little scene, flexing his toned body against mine. I played with he hoops of his jeans, tugging on it playfully. He threw his head back only I could hear him moaning.

Matt looked at me with his eyes almost closed, the audience screamed louder and louder. His outfit suited him better than mine did, with white jeans and shoes, he wore a black, sleeveless shirt with a red tie on which I was currently tugging him closer to me with my devil arm.

_Say that you want me every day_

_That you want me every way_

_That you need me_

_Got me trippin'_

_Super psycho love_

_Aim, pull the trigger_

_Feel the pain getting bigger_

_Go insane from the bitter feeling_

_Trippin' super psycho love_

I wasn't afraid letting my voice scale to higher notes, I was perfectly in motion with them when I swirled out from Matt's arms, but he immediately grabbed my wrist and turned me around with a grin spreading on his face. I stepped back moving along with the beat and him; not falling out of it, the others continued with their move set, and Matt and I started to play a little naughty tag around the stage.

_Pull me off to darkened corners_

_Where all other eyes avoid us_

_Tell me how I mesmerize you_

_I love you and despise you_

_Back to the crowd where you ignore me_

_Bedroom eyes to those before me_

_How am I supposed to handle_

_Lit the fuse and missed the candle_

He was still holding my arm then I pulled on his hand again with a greater force, first he crushed into me, bodies rubbing together, and with the same force I tossed him forward. These guys are kind of good actors because Matt fell with the most majestic moves I've ever seen... well, alright, I know someone who did better than him. I placed my right foot on his chest, pinning him down. He pushed his arms down, trusting up into the air, rocking his hips under me. I gave him credit for his confidence.

"_Damn…"_ I raised my head looking around the room for a quick glance and something caught my eye and I almost forgot how to balance myself. I could see Matt blinking at me but I forgot to care, I couldn't fall out now!

…_if you wanna let me go_

_Baby, please just let me know_

_You're not gonna get away with_

_Leading me on_

I crouched down next to him; happily Matt gave up the confused look on his face and jumped back to character. But oh god damn it, _this fucking cannot be real. _

_Say you want me_

_Say you need me_

_Tear my heart out slow_

_And bleed me_

_Know you want me too_

_I think you want me too_

_Please say you want me too_

_Because you're going to_

The chorus came back again, and I never let Matt get up from his position. I stayed there, dancing around him, sometimes leaning down as if I was trying to seduce him. It was a pretty funny situation though. But soon, the song ended with a quick stop.

Several seconds of silence fell on us, only the crowd was heard cheering and screaming frantically. I had to take a deep breath to stop my spinning head and I helped Matt up. As the stage darkened and only a few LED screens were visible he asked what happened, only to get waved off by me as I ran to the right side of the stage, to meet up with the girls. I couldn't force back my curiosity but I couldn't find the white spot I was looking for, but I had to follow up with _"Delusional"_, turning back quickly, acting all bossy when I was distracted the most.

It was a relief when we finished this song, I was too curious and annoyed to focus, maybe it was visible on my performance and my voice acted differently so I had to remind myself several times not to screw up. "_Delusional"_ was a slower but sexier track on this album. I wrote it on those boring nights when all I could do is lying on my bed and watch the ceiling with a pen in my hand. Yeah, a _pen. _

Nevertheless it was great to dance with_ The Inevitable Fall_, they lived up to their reputation, sometimes doing jumps and falling on the ground with intensive spins and other little stunts. Now they gathered around me and it looked like I was controlling them, like my little robots. Zane and Andrew were masters of this kind of move set. They moved like a real machine would and they did an impressive work with that.

When _"8Bit Heart"_ started I focused on the side of the audience where I've seen that little trail of white. The scenery drastically changed, white lights ruled everything and I glanced back over my shoulder, Meagan and Sam both danced like joyful children, respect for them to doing that in platform heels.

I turned back, singing my heart out; sometimes placing my hands on my chest and running my hands up and down. I could feel some people grabbing after me when I got to the edge of the stage but I was only focused on the song and the trace of that aura which hit me while I had been dancing with Matt.

It didn't take long for me to find the source. A few meters away from the bar, several couches were placed in comfortable ways and someone was sitting there, looking at me with an interested gaze, eyes lighting up a little.

We noted each other's presence quickly and suddenly, an excited blush took over my face while I finished the song quicker than I felt it was going. "_Diablo"_ was the next. The song about that long lost demon, who was apparently watching me with a beer in his hand, _Dante. _

Somehow I fell out but I stayed there at the same time. It was like all of the events in Fortuna played before me like a movie, but the same time it was different. We were in different life situations now. At that moment when he appeared in the opera house he was the middle of the attention, but now _I_ took that place.

I was swinging around the pole on the side and dancing with the others, knowing his gaze was all over me the whole time and somehow it gave me an intoxicated feeling. Was it weird because I haven't seen him in such a long time? Was it weird because I was singing the song which was basically about him and it felt like… he noticed it? Was it _that_ obvious?

During the next song, "_Joystick_" I felt like I was naked. Norenat warned me about its lyrics – more like a friend would, but she didn't say anything bad about it. Now this was where the crowd went crazy. I don't blame them, there were all kinds of sexual innuendos summed up in one song. Now the dancing was the interesting part here: I was stuck between Matt and Tyler; both of them were holding my waist and pulling me to the left and right, their bodies pushing against me with a sweet friction. Someone even grabbed me from behind, grabbing me by my hair and pulling it back a little, and Matt leaned in to my neck, teasingly burying his face between my shoulder and neck. All I could do is sing and hold the microphone while trailing my free hand up my torso, it caught my shirt at some point, slowly pulling it up and revealing a tiny bit of skin.

I couldn't stop stealing glances at the place where Dante was sitting. Why did I feel like he was judging me? I wasn't pretty sure of that myself, but I could almost hear his thoughts running around like "Who's this Nero?" "When did he become like that?" or "Was he always like this?" and I couldn't help but blush and sink into myself a little. On the other hand I was confused, how did he get there? Did he see my face on the TV or heard my music? What if he doesn't like it? Or what if he does? It was so annoying I don't know anything about him; it drove me mad at the moment!

Next song, I was rather irritated but time flew by quicker than I originally thought. I wanted to run down from the stage and face Dante but right now… I only noticed that we're on the next track when Sam showed up on one right side of me, holding a violin. I honestly forgot she's going to do a live performance with it. She was dressed colorfully, wearing a ripped tank top – with the same bleeding bit heart which was presented on everyone's clothes and short jeans. On her right leg she wore transparent orange stockings, but I remember that she said her favorite from her outfit were the plateau boots with the cut out cross in the thick heels. She was very fond of it.

She stepped out into light, placing the instrument on her shoulder and looked back to me with a nod. She started "Beat Drop", playing a sharp sequence of quickly ascending and descending notes. I had to get to the pole again, Matt and the others lining up behind me. This was a fast song, I gave myself to the quick beat and the intense lyrics, with one eye I watched Sam as she was lost with the instrument, waving around and even doing a little dance while playing. The guys held Meagan in the line, spinning her around to the beat. I grasped the pole firmly, and kept my attention on the bar just to occupy my thoughts. There I noticed Norenat, she was leaning back with a cocktail, eying me suspiciously.

Then I noticed Dante walking up to the bar, getting a drink for himself. As his back was facing me, my curiosity reached a new level; and then I saw Norenat turning to him. _What. _She smiled widely while talking to him and I saw Dance's face light up a little. They knew each other?

As the sound died off I was on the edge of jumping down from the stage. I suddenly felt a grip around my wrist, Matt turned me around with a questioning gaze but I shook my head. The grip tightened, but I only grunted and pushed my back to the pole, feeling the cold metal cooling off my burning skin. As the lyrics followed, I raised my arms, slowly stripping off my shirt. When I was free from the cloth, I threw it to the crowd and I saw some girls getting into a fight for it. I ran my fingers down my torso, passing my hips, teasingly close to my crotch and I tugged a little on my leather pants.

I was dangerously close to Matt, could feel his breath on my heated skin. I wouldn't be surprised if the magazines tomorrow would be all over this scenario… What fucking ever. I had zero feelings for him in that way and I'm pretty sure he's dating; on the other hand, this is only acting. But why did I feel a cold gaze piercing my back then?

I was too scared to turn around; I raised the microphone to my chapped lips, trembling a little, but I had to get back my confidence.

_The villains and the heroes are merging,_

_Everything is blurry_

_Time is standing still_

_The sky is switching with the ground_

_My world is turning upside-down_

_My sense of judgment seems to be compromised_

_You're too strong to be denied_

Now everyone took their places in a line moving unorganized but at the same time, in perfect synch. The music was building up the tension, I followed them with dancing; moving my hips to the rhythm.

_Ooh, I'm brainwashed_

_Captivated by The Fame_

_Oh it's taking over me now_

_Mighty baby, untamed lover_

_Ooh, I'm brainwashed_

_Double oh who?_

_Seven digits_

_Connect me to you,_

_Sweet Center_

_Baby, baby_

_Take me with you_

_BRAINWASH_

Surprisingly this song reached its climax faster than others. It gave me an eerie feeling; I loved singing it, scaling high pitches while my arms and legs moved every time I changed the lines. I wonder if performing feels better than sex.

Anyway, right now all I could do is focus on my moves, finally turning back to the crowd and I saw them dancing and it made me feel better. I was happy like a kid seeing them dance and sing simultaneously. I did everything to entertain them, at least I felt like did.

In the next second I let loose of my legs and fell to my side, just to be caught by Zane and Andrew, they pushed me back to my feet quickly and both of them quickly jumped to my sides, then started to crawl forward like two tigers. I followed them stopping in mid song, guiding down my hands on my thighs and back up, as I marched another high pitched note.

_You're speaking, it's so clear_

_But all the words are hard to hear_

_And I think I kind of like it that way_

_Mirror mirror on the wall,_

_Says you'll catch me when I fall_

_I've always been the hunter,_

_Not the other way_

_Now why do I feel like the prey?_

I fell to my knees, hitting the ground with my fist, looking up to the red lights with my hair hiding my face, repeating the move until my head was dizzy and I looked like a mess with my hair. Sweat was dripping the side of my face, and the hair stuck there, making me look rather exhausted. Okay, no sugarcoating, I looked like if I was just about to –

_I saw this coming_

_But I did nothing_

_I saw this_

_I want this_

_Found out how to make it now_

_Take me over, _

_Take a vow_

_What're you waiting for?_

I rose from the ground just to get surrounded by hands – on my torso, waist, shoulders; everywhere hungry hands were grabbing me as I ended the song with a releasing scream.

The scenery went dark again, everybody was panting harshly; the audience kept screaming, I could barely breathe around the others, they quickly let me go and I stepped forward taking a deep breath. It was a bad idea to look back to the bar, Norenat and Dante weren't there anymore. I began to feel disappointed. Part of me was scared that they went together somewhere… But that can't be true, right? _RIGHT?_

I wasn't really paying attention to the last song anymore. It was like losing my entire audience in a minute. The confidence faded away from me and I became a little monotonous. The last part was the dark sequence, it was rather hip-hop styled, with a solo from one of Jack's DJ-songwriter friend. "The Dark" was about reaching a goal, and despite all of the negative thoughts that surrounded my mind right now, I did achieve something tonight and deep down there I was really proud of myself. The last months went faster than I imagined and the fact that I actually performed here tonight with all these amazing people… Utterly amazing. The song faded away with a light note, I'm pretty sure this stuck in everyone's ears for the rest of the night. So when I finished I ran up to the metallic pole and started to reach down to my audience, giving them high fives and shaking their hands. It was time to end the night.

_And so the boy traveled on,_

_Undeterred, upon his quest_

_For he now knew_

_That it was not another's love that would make him real_

_But the love within his own heart_

_And with that_

_He knew that he would never be_

_Alone._

When the first promotional concert of the album 8Bit Heart started, it ended with the oddly happy music and this little monologue.

I stormed back to my dressing room then. Somehow, I was angry that Norenat and Dante went off to God knows where. As soon as I could slip away from the guys cheering I was in my room and shut the door with a loud "bam". First, I wanted to drink something. I found some cold water on my table, quickly taking off the bottle's cap. I didn't even try to drink it properly, I pretty much just poured it on myself. It didn't take too long to hear somebody opening my door.

"Looks like tonight's star is pretty thirsty not just for the cheering but for water." I heard a deep voice chuckle behind me. Even if I heard the door itself the voice caught me off guard and as I turned around I pretty much threw the bottle at Dante, who just closed the door behind himself and Norenat.

"Nero, careful." She quickly dodged the water bottle. On the second glance she looked kind of disoriented, her hair was far away from perfect, and even her makeup was a little messy. Did she cry or something?

"D-Dante?" I could only make this out; I grabbed a towel and quickly covered myself. Why did I feel naked suddenly?

"Good to see ya again, Nero." He smiled at me and I lost my ability to speak. Firstly, the way he said my name kind of sent a shiver down my spine, what the hell is happening? On second hand I thought about so many questions but suddenly all I could see are his light blue eyes, even lighter than my own, they shone at me like the cold moon.

"Yeah, it's good to see you too." I swallowed the remaining saliva in my mouth. I was still freaking thirsty, so I grabbed another bottle and sat down to the nearest chair. It was a relief for my legs but I kept my gaze on Norenat and Dante. "So um, what are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same." He raised a brow. "I came to have fun tonight and snatch some ladies for myself; I would never expect to run into you here, especially like _this. _So you became famous?"

"Heh, old man you're after some youngsters, aren't you? Leave my fans alone." I grinned in response. "Yeah, I could say I'm doing pretty well. But do you two know each other?" I looked at Norenat who got rid of her messy makeup in the meantime, she was sitting on the couch next to the wall.

"Oh, that? Yeah, me and Natty had some business before." Dante chuckled again and took a step back, leaning to the wall covered with a tall mirror; the surface quickly presented his whole form back. Damn, he looked exactly the same. The same red trench coat, the chaps, black shirt, everything, only his sword was missing from his back, but I spotted his guns on his hips dangerously close to his–

"Quit calling me that, I'm not 32 anymore," she grunted, and I had to meet her gaze again. "Well yes, Nero, do you remember our train ride to Fortuna? When I told you about my brother?" I could hear her voice cracking, weak spot. I nodded quickly and she continued. "I hired this man to find Julian, back then. Though he was new in the business, he was the only one who even found evidence."

Dante nodded and I rose from the chair I was sitting on, placing the towel on the side.

"So what do you think about the show?" This question was meant for Norenat but my stupid head just turned to Dante so when I met his gaze he responded.

"You have a spark in you, that's true, I'm impressed by your skills." he smiled, or rather grinned. Something was off with his aura though. "Never thought that you're not as innocent as you look, and where's your little girlfriend?"

"I take it you liked it, but _innocent_? Where did you get that bull crap, old man?" I huffed but couldn't stop the same grin now spreading on my face. "Also Kyrie's not my girlfriend, _note that._" I stretched my arms just to feel a little free from the tension.

"I hate to wrap up this lovely conversation, Nero" Norenat stood up, holding her phone in her hand now. "But I think you should take a shower so we can go back to the _Arcadia Hotel_, Jack prepared some kind of party for us." She gave me one of her unbreakable smiles, but when Dante stood back to leave she looked at me with wide eyes, trying to make me get the hint when she slightly tilted her head towards the hunter. _God damn it._

"Party?" I was surprised then I quickly got her sings "Hey, Dante do you want to, erm…?"

"Do what, kid?" He looked at me knowingly; he just wanted me to ask him, what a tease. I really forgot his freaking annoying behavior. This is just like Fortuna all over again, except the fact that I was still mildly aroused. My mind pretty much wandered off during the dance sequences, especially when Matt was incredibly close, his hips grounding against mine… In the end, I have to admit: I didn't really see Matt doing all sorts of things to me, did I?

"You know… come with us? I mean, I haven't seen you a while and uh yeah I kinda crashed your hunting night out didn't I?" Well, that didn't really went well. I planned to say something better, but whatever, I just need that shower really bad.

"Yeah, sure I'd love to have some fun. And yeah, it's been quite a while." he laughed setting the tension off from my shoulders and I inhaled deeply. I could feel his scent filling my lungs even if the hunter was a few steps away from me. I'm not sure why, alright, that's a lie. I was exactly sure about that feeling rushing through my stomach and my brain also agreed on that great plan about just walking up to him and rip his clothes off at this instant. Only Norenat's presence and my own sanity stopped me.

The _hell_ was that thought.

"Alright, we'll wait for you in the limousine, Nero." Norenat walked up to the door silently, just as if she tried to sneak out from the room, though I would be really glad for that. Dante followed her; leaving me there just watching they walk out.

_So where is that shower?_

About forty minutes later I finally found my way out from the building. I changed into something fresh, though I kept the leather jeans and combat boots, I only wore a simple black shirt adding to it. Andrew found me first and then quickly the whole group followed me to the back door, stepping out into the hot summer night and finally catching up with the waiting car. Matt opened the door for us and let me in first, I hopped next to Dante immediately, dangling a little from the force I jumped in with.

"Took you a quite while." he greeted me but his gaze quickly concentrated on the others jumping in. The last one getting into the elegant looking limo was Matt; he decided to take the free place on my right side. I watched Dante's expression change suddenly, but I just ignored it. Okay, I _tried _to ignore it. It was indeed weird, so I looked after Norenat for some help but turns out she's not even in the car. As everyone took a place, getting something to drink for themselves, the car started. I looked around confused, turning to left and right, Dante might have noticed that.

"She took another car, saying something about a headache and went home I guess." Dante shrugged, but his gaze wasn't honest at all, I mean, it guarded something behind his words that I was only hearing. "Though she said she'll be back sooner or later." he added when noticing my questioning gaze.

"I'm sure she will." I flexed my back a little and threw my legs on the little table in front of me. Meanwhile the others turned on some music and managed to pour champagne for every of us – even for Dante on my left, I was surprised no one of them even asked who he was. Why do I feel like Norenat is somehow behind this? Why is my oh-so-active manager behind everything suddenly? I didn't really want to think about it, but I was sure tired from all the stress and physical exercises I just did not long ago. Part of me wanted to go home and jump onto a warm bed and sleep.

But right now, somehow all of my tiredness eased thanks to someone who was rather interested in Meagan at the moment. She was eagerly handing out glasses filled with champagne. Well I don't blame him – or at least not that much; she's such an eye catching beauty. Her long black hair had been tied up during the show, I only saw her releasing it once – during Brainwash maybe? but it was hanging down now, covering her round face which was all red from excitement and happiness. She wore a light green dress, the fabric seemed quite expensive, and fit her eyes. They were only a few shades darker than the color of her dress and also the shade of green increased the shimmer of her bronze skin. I didn't really spot her shoes, but sure she did look good. _However, _I knew something about her, the others didn't.

When we all got our glasses, Sam was the one who raised hers first, her face carried the same kind of redness like the other girl's. She also wore a dress, but it was white and different from Meagan's. Sam was always the comfortable type, no wonder why she chose some kind of one shouldered, wave styled dress. I rarely see her dressing like this.

"For tonight!" Sam giggled, all of us were there to bring down the champagne, but Matt next to me raised his voice quicker than that.

"And let's not forget the star of this night, Nero!" Everybody started to cheer and clap, smiling at me with bright eyes. I was honestly flattered, maybe even a little blush crept to my face, and I quickly scratched my nose and looked away.

"It wouldn't have been possible without you guys." I added and as we reached the place where the after part was held, our mood reached a whole new level.

Well, I did expect something marvelous for the closing of tonight, but renting a suite that even had a pool? Whoever was in charge for this sure knew how to make this boiling summer night just a bit hotter. When we got up to the right floor, I could only see the bunch of people and suddenly my ears only registered the music. I wanted to stay with Dante for a while, because so many questions came into my head while we were in the car, but suddenly Matt grabbed me by my left hand and pulled me towards the crowd. I was only able to tell Dante to wait a little but I could see the somewhat disappointed gaze looking after me. This guy confused me.

Not long after Matt and the others began to bring me around like a trophy, I went to look after the hunter. It would be a good time to at least sit down with him for a while after I left him so quickly at the entrance.

Of course I found him at the bar, holding a conversation with the lady in charge for the drinks, hmm. Easy, Nero. _Easy._

"So you have escaped from them finally?" He asked me teasingly when I jumped on the chair next to him.

"Yeah, they're kind of… overwhelmed." We both chuckled on that, I grabbed a bottle of water for myself, Dante on the other hand was holding onto a smaller glass of whiskey. "So, what are you doing in town?"

"You're kidding right?" he laughed, "I live here."

Somehow I expected this answer but at the same time I didn't. He, of all people, lived here? How come I never came across his presence before?

"In case you're wondering, I assume you've never been to another place besides Fortuna, right? So you didn't sense me since your demon wasn't used to other presences besides its own." He raised his glass and emptied it quickly; I was staring at him completely perplexed.

"Yeah, but–"

"You have been here for a while now but still nothing? Well, if you're running around in the inner districts on a daily basis it is troublesome to find me around. I rarely go out." I was only registering his voice and the meaning behind when the bartender poured another round for him.

"I should have figured it out that you are one lazy ass, Dante." I grinned at him in response.

"Hmm, it is true – I'm not that energy bunny who runs around on stages while singing, dancing and managing to swing around a pole, Nero."

Suddenly I had the urge to claw my skin off, because that weird girly blush appeared on my face again, and I quickly hide it with my devil arm, the back of it brushing against my nose. But before I could say anything, someone changed the special set which was blasting in the speaker with a great bass; it was that eerie sounding lady Jack really fancied. Or at least it was a remix of some sort, sure catchy though. I looked up to the hunter next to me; he was watching me with excitement in his eyes.

"Then I guess you can't catch up with me, can you, old man?" I placed the bottle on the counter and jumped off my seat, happily dangling towards the dance floor. Of course he followed me, the air was thicker than usual, there was something going on and he knew it, but nobody else.

He found me in the crowd easily, when did he slip out of his coat?

"So you like living in here, kid?" his voice rang through my head, he even leaned a little in, not falling out from moving with me at all. Figures he's a good dancer.

"It's a really good place, so yeah." I grinned at him, placing my hands on his shoulders and swaying my hips along to the music. Everything came from my instincts, even if I wasn't a master of dancing, I wouldn't consider myself bad at this. I mean, it's just grinding together, moving hips together, isn't it?

"Don't let the fame get you too hard." he laughed, and even if he sounded joking, when I caught his light blue eyes, they were serious. Dante confused me on so many levels again and it was beginning to piss me off.

"I know how to fight my way outta things, remember the Savior, right?" I punched him in the arm lightly and he laughed. It was good to see him having fun next to me. Dante's whole presence made everything less interesting, I mean my vision was only around him. Usually I would be dancing with my friends, not even daring to go alone with someone, but with him it was just different. I was really glad that our paths crossed like this, since the 'goodbye' we exchanged wasn't a real one. I always felt as if even he wasn't sure about how our lives would turn out. But I don't know.. Back then he just confused me and I just remembered that I still had to things for him: a question and a thank you.

First of all I was curious why he gave me Yamato because it still lingers my mind why he would give up his brother's weapon. Bad memories maybe? I don't know but it bothered me ever since the Savior incident. Most importantly though, I wanted to thank Dante for leaving me with such clouded emotions. If It wasn't for his unsure "answer" I would have never started writing, or at least not in this passionate way. So yeah, if it weren't for this little thing… I guess we would have never met again. Or if we even did, every other situation would be even worse than this one.

I began to open my mouth and even leaned closer to begin with a question, but suddenly he took my wrists and spun me around, as the music reached its climax I heard the music stopping, just to change into another track. I quickly stole a glance on Jack who was talking to Norenat about something, they even seemed a little too eager. Seeing those two being eager about something? First signs of apocalypse.

_Push up to my body_

_Sink your teeth into my_

_Flesh Flesh Flesh Flesh_

The crowd around us, the others I just saw… everyone went bat shit crazy. This was a remix of a still work in progress song of mine. I only had like the vocals for it? I should have expected Jack to get it somehow and mix it immediately; it was his favorite hobby to do, mess with my tracks.

My face must have lighten up with an interesting red color, because I heard Dante chuckle beside me, only to grab me and continue dancing. I silently praised every god because my back was facing his front, not the opposite. But it was such a flattering feeling to hear everyone sing or at least hum along with this song. My entire life changed in such unusual way, and something told me that it was still the beginning.

We danced until it got really late; I can only remember fragments from the night after some of us started to dare each other to try out some exotic sounding cocktails. The one really tickling my tongue was called "Alexander", containing gin, brandy and two different kinds of creams. Dante even said that alcohol with cream flavor suits me, everybody nodded at him in response, only my face was confused and embarrassed.

My entire soul enjoyed this night thoroughly and I remembered dancing with my friends, I even remember Norenat joining us at some point, she was dancing like it have been million years since she saw a dance floor – at that point maybe one of the guys handed me a little punch on the shoulder. I'm pretty sure Dante had fun too… at least he seemed like he did and he kinda told me something about this after party is even better that the original plan he made for tonight.

But most importantly, at some point of the night I remember this satisfying feeling: the back of my head hitting a soft pillow then I turned around with a grunt and fell asleep.

* * *

I felt like a dick for the first version of this ending so this ending dedicated to Poli, ILU SWEETIE SORRY I'M SUCH A TEASE I'M SO SORRY FOR EVERYTHING … or not.

Anyway hope you guys liked it and oh please look up Simon Curtis he is an excellent and talented perf human being okay see u later

kissus~


	5. Incredible Italian Lesson

**Author's Note: **Heyy I'm back from Prague(and in the meantime, currently _was_ on spring break)! I spent three days in that beautiful city, so that's why writing took longer than usual. Visit Prague if you guys have the opportunity! It's a wonderful and welcoming city, also the Czech beer is delicious! Also please excuse the delay but I had like no ideas?

**Warnings: **Swearing, possible ooc.

**As usual, all my thanks to PorcelainPills**

I don't own Devil May Cry or the characters, Capcom does.

* * *

**Chapter five – Incredible Italian Lesson**

Sunlight flooded the room, slowly filling the space between the floor and the ceiling. The first rays of morning light passed through the tall windows, falling past the brown silk curtains, lazily running up on the dangling bed sheets. There was a little nest of pillows and covers in the middle of the bed, a foot working its way out under the heavy covers. Typical summer morning, inside the nest of blankets and pillows a small form was moving.

Suddenly a pale arm found its way to the bed's side, reaching around then falling down to the floor, white, perfectly manicured nails scraping the wood lightly. The single arm belonged to a female, who was now slowly waking up to the first rays of sunlight. For a moment, everything stood still, the bedroom was just as silent as a grave would be. Then, breaking the quiet scene, the person finally rose from their nest, sitting up with a loud grunt, stretching her arms, to wake up fully.

Norenat looked around her bedroom. First of all, she had no idea how last night actually ended – which was kind of a bad thing, because it started quite well – then she remembered the one thing that completely screwed up her mood: Dante.

_Not like he had to do too much with it._ She sighed, massaging her scalp, brushing out a few curls out of her eyes and getting out of bed. It was summer, and the temperature already over twenty-five degrees, the wood already felt warm because the sunlight shining down on it mercilessly. Norenat stood up and immediately went to the bathroom, realizing that she forgot to wash down the make-up last night, even though she felt like she had done it at some point, but the memory of coming home before the party hit her like a shot. _Oh yes, I did come home once_, she noted, muttering under her breath. As she entered the smaller bathroom of her apartment, she followed up her original line of thought: last night and Dante.

She would have never expected him to show up, _again_, even if she knew he was still around after all that blimey went down with finding Julian and so – _oh_, a wave of heart clenching memories of all those nights when she cried like was her last sleep in her life. She scoffed at her weakest memories; slowly undressing from the top and pants she wore as pajamas, stepping into the shower, turning on the tabs. As the hot water hit her skin, she finally let out a relaxed sigh, feeling the water like a comfortable blanket, covering her pale form, soothing her entire body.

At that moment Nero stepped on the stage everything became… magical. He had this inhuman grace over his face already in backstage – well, considering he wasn't exactly a human – but that moment Norenat could really see the passion in him. It was electrifying, she was proud of him, _oh so proud_. Sometimes she thought it was maybe a little too much, that she acted like a mother to people she fancied. Some even found it annoying after time, but after growing up in a family which lacked the mother image she had no choice but to take care of her brother and father.

She chuckled to herself, reaching out to find some kind of soap or shower gel, with some exotic smell or ingredients.

So it was a fun night, watching the reap the first rewards of nine months of work, paperwork and late night sessions in the office. Nero might have had it even worse, with all those dance classes and studio work, but damn, he even had time to have fun with the others – which solved Norenat's fear of the boy feeling alone, considering he left his life behind so easily.

_Left his life so easily._

Or maybe it wasn't easy to him at all? There were things he didn't told Norenat, for example where the hell did he know Dante? That should be a discussion made today, she thought as she massaged the shampoo into her hair now, the flowery scent filled her nose and the entire bathroom.

Anyway, last night was officially the night of discovery. Finding Dante again, hearing some things he never actually told Norenat, that had made her cry hysterically…"_Gosh that actually happened…" _she sighed, leaning to the cold wall of the shower, cooling off her head for a second.

Of course she didn't blame him for not telling her more. Damn, it was a bad idea to even ask. It stood for Dante's defense that he was more like a hunter, not a detective type, So when it hunting-supernatural investigation business, he had a few realizations way after Julian's case ended.

But still, Norenat remembered their way backstage when the demon hunter asked if he could meet Nero – which surprised her a lot – even if he claimed that they're friends, and maybe, but only maybe, Dante convinced her easier than it should have been. On their way backstage, she analyzed him for a while, in her head the image of the young, noisy brat in that run-down shop she never thought she would ever go to was still fresh but now, said brat was a full grown man, _a very fine full grown man_.

So Norenat asked this man how his shop was going, he eagerly answered about the wonderful payment he gathers occasionally, smirking to himself. Then he dropped the bomb, stopping Norenat mid-walk. For a moment she was scared, the music was still on, she felt a little bad for leaving the show early, even though she remembered that there'll be at least five other chances to see Nero performing live.

"I've got something to tell you, actually." Dante suddenly got all serious, she could see his features getting stronger, the poorly lighted hallway behind the stage gave his face an unpleasant glow. Something else was in his eyes, regret maybe?

"Hit me with it." Norenat gave him an encouraging nod, expecting the worst.

"It's about your brother. He… He had been hired to find possible victims for someone." The first thing Dante said only made her raise a brow, suddenly not understanding what he just said. "Julian was encountered by a strange group of men. Well it's like a church, some kind of religion, but my point is that he was important to them. They must have kept him under their watch or his family. The day you wanted to meet him, they decided it was too dangerous to let him outside. So they killed him."

Hired? Julian? A person who saved lives daily and who couldn't even hurt a fly?

Norenat could feel her head getting dizzy again, tears rolled up in her eyes. Luckily, the shower washed them away quickly, not like last night.

She remembered everything, standing in front of Dante, suddenly being shocked and she wanted to faint or wake up from the things the man just dropped on her shaking frame. But since it didn't happen, she leaned against the wooden wall instead. It was such a relief her legs supported the weight bravely.

Minutes later she stepped out from the shower, wrapping herself in a soft purple towel and standing in front of the mirror, eying her tired form.

It took her a few minutes, receiving a not so helpful pat on her shoulder and tissues from her bag to finally adjust to the information Dante shared with her. He apologized for spoiling her mood but he seemed kind of relieved when Norenat got herself together, face wiped, smile back on. Through the years she had learned to push her own things aside until she had found time for herself to face them. Norenat was actually grateful for the information, she wasn't sure why exactly, deep inside however she blamed herself again. It was her fault; she had wanted to see Julian so badly.

One strong thought somehow leaped into her mind: _It's in the past, girl, almost eleven years by now. Come on Nattie, you're stronger than breaking down._

She didn't want to be seen this hurt again, so she forced a smile on her face, to reassure the man that she'll be just fine, and led him backstage, the last song had already ended. On their way to meet Nero an assistant stopped them, asking Norenat for some things about the payment and such. She didn't pay attention though and when they finally entered the dressing room, Nero was already there, changing maybe – judging by the surprise of their appearance.

One more thing also bugged her: the _tension._ It is true that she lacked demonic powers like those two but the minute she stepped into that dressing room… Norenat had to sit down for a moment, not even wanting to talk, just watching the two men exchange words over her head. Thus she had the rising urge to go home, at least to do something with her look.

So she had left as soon as she could, called a taxi for herself meanwhile Nero and Dante had their chit-chat, so she left them, instructing Dante where to go and wait for Nero. She was glad at least the man could accompany the boy, her presence weren't needed anyway, she smiled on the thought of tonight's success, well, she was proud of the group's work it was their honey tasting fruit of success.

As Norenat stepped into the apartment, carefully locking the door behind herself her legs gave up. She almost fell to the floor, but gathered enough strength to at least grab onto the doorknob, so she just leaned against the wall, tears slowly pouring down her face, soft gasps filling the silence of the apartment. She kicked off her shoes, walking up to the couch, falling onto it like a heavy sack of dirt, face pushed into the comfy cushions.

Minutes passed, but they felt like hours to Norenat as she let everything out. Maybe part of it was frustration but the main reason was the information Dante had given her. Norenat felt dizzy. All these years of believing her brother's death had been caused by a creature running amok but now it all shattered. He lived his life in danger, in fear and pain, probably lots of it and where was she? Where was the sister who raised him, the sister who should've taken care of her little brother? How come she never noticed him acting differently? Was she that fooled by her own fame?

After her breathing had calmed down again, Norenat finally took another sip from her coffee which she made after leaving the bathroom, and carefully wiped the tears from her face with a napkin. Now her gray eyes were looking at the eggs she just finished, they were well done, she was proud to keep at least this little normality.

She looked around the dining room, then stood up and walked into the kitchen with the dishes. Then, she spent a few minutes wandering around the living room, taking a glance at the photos and awards placed on the elegant fireplace, the walls that were covered with golden and silver discs, several things she just kept because of the memories, before settling down on the couch, turning on her laptop and looking at the single frame next to it. It was their last family picture together. Ellie, her mother with beautiful long golden hair, and the similar gray eyes, wearing a nice dress with a silly flower pattern. She had a round shaped face, wide lips and the characteristic smile which she passed to both of her children. Next to her stood Norenat's father, with brown eyes and that deep dark brown hair which only passed to Norenat. He had high cheekbones and gentle features. Norenat's father was a doctor back then, his name was Bennett and it was noticeable in his eyes that he had seen many things in his life. In front of their parents Julian was leaning on Norenat's shoulder. He was only fifteen on this picture but had already grown taller than her. They always teased each other about their height. At that time, Julian had been a hardcore metalhead, he even grew his hair long, his locks were longer than Norenat's.

It felt funny looking at this picture. Julian with long, straight golden locks and shining gray eyes, ripped jeans, boots, leather jacket, band T-shirt, looking like if he was the happiest person in the world, then next to him was Norenat. She looked sort of immature with the silly grin; her young self wore a skirt and a blouse with similar flower pattern as her mother's dress. Norenat hummed, looking at herself on the picture. The young Norenat hated short hair, it was well presented on this picture.

"Maybe I should let it grow back again," she murmured now, placing back the frame on the table and focusing on her laptop. A few email alerts already showed up and she clicked on the first one that caught her eyes, seeing the unusual title on the screen.

Opening the email, she gasped.

* * *

My bed was noticeably warm. I could feel the sunlight burning my thighs. I wasn't covered at all – besides from the jeans and shirt I failed to take off last night, but where is my blanket? My left hand wandered around the bed, touching the edge of the soft fabric, so I grabbed it and started to pull to myself but surprisingly it didn't move at all. My eyes opened lazily only to immediately close when encountering the bright light before me. It must be noon already, but hell after last night I enjoyed every second laying in my bed. I moved a little, stretching my legs and arms while I was still laying on my tummy, face buried in a pillow, feeling the lovely soreness in my thighs. A few hours in the gym might cure that later.

I did a good job last night, the concert was amazing, everything went perfect and I even met someone I haven't seen a whil–

_A grunt_. I heard somebody grunting beside me.

My blood turned to ice, my left hand warily slipped under the spare pillow for Blue Rose only to find nothing. Which was unusual and startling. Slowly I opened my eyes again, hissing as quietly as possible in the encounter with sunlight, only to see a back facing me. The only thing that really surprised me that this back was bare, and it also had a head with silvery hair.

"_Son of a…. Sparda._" I muttered. Well, it was _him_ for sure.

Suddenly I heard the doorbell ring.

_Oh god damn it can this get any worse?_ I mentally slapped myself for asking this question.

„NERO OPEN THE DOOR!" With the volume of hundred Berials' and Echidnas' screams someone was banging on the front door. This someone was most likely Norenat.

So I got up, not even trying to question Dante's appearance thoroughly, running out from the room – almost tripping on a pair of shoes, just to finally open the door for Norenat. She looked at me with a really weird smile, she seemed really happy and eager about something and it concerned me. Also she was already perfectly dressed in a black skirt and a light green blouse, hair done and all that jazz women do in the morning. I on the other hand was still in leather jeans and black shirt, my face must have showed the wrinkles I gained while sleeping face to the pillow all night, my hair messy.

"Finally. I've been knocking for like a good ten minutes now, what's up with you, Nero?" she asked delightfully, walking past, allowing me to close the door.

"N-not much." I mumbled. Maybe I should tell her that there's someone asleep in my bed, or maybe not, because _hell _I don't even know what the old man is doing here at all which wasn't a good sign.

"Did I wake you?" She turned to me, looking surprised. I suppose she got that from my voice, which was kinda raspy.

"Yeah, um you did." I walked to the kitchen area and opened the fridge to find some cool water; I needed that.

"Sorry for that." she laughed, following me to the counters, placing a few magazines in front of me. Then she elbowed me eagerly. "Look!"

"Hm?" I looked at her first before glancing down to the first one's cover. Yes, my face grinned back with a delightful expression. My face was on an actual magazine cover! I lifted the first magazine, just to see the one beneath it with a photo from the concert presented, showing one of the last sequences. The titles surprised me though.

"New face and music on the battlefield: _Exclusive report from the first promotion concert of Nero._"Norenat read the first one out loud, smiling widely. "Need-To-See: 8Bit Heart – an electrifying performance!" She continued. "But wait! My favorite is this: A perfect acronym for sexy and stunning: _Nero."_

"Well that escalated quickly." I eyed her with a content grin, leaning to the counter.

"See? I told you I want to see you name on magazines." she chuckled.

"I remember it very well." I said, my right hand brushed past something and I turned my gaze away from the happy-go-lucky woman to see a hand written note attached to a cup thus it contained a single white pill. I recognized Meagan's handwriting.

"_Nero, call me when you wake up and drink the aspirin. Seriously drink it first before speaking. CALL ME ASAP!"_

"What's that?" Norenat asked slowly, waving her hand before my eyesight. "Nero, you're somewhere else in your mind, how come you're so dreamy?"

"Mhm." I just nodded and poured some water into the glass from the bottle that was in my hands. Somehow we both fell silent for a while, Norenat looking through the magazines, opening each at the articles about the concert, placing them next to me as I watched the medicine dissolving in the cup, drinking the bubbling water at once. So I have to call Meagan, right?

I know, I should be extremely happy and eager as Norenat, but to be honest, I wasn't. I was sober and it felt weird, it wasn't the usual feeling. My willpower forced my brain to remember, because Dante's presence was still an open question and it was a rather irritating one. However I was honestly sure about nothing intimate had happened last night. My memories would have been stronger if something like that happened, I mean there's no chance we had sex. No. That would hurt and he wouldn't have been facing away from me, and sleeping on the edge of the bed… or maybe I'm just imagining things? Okay, I have to calm down that's sure, but the next moment didn't help any of that.

I leaned against the counter, facing the door to my bedroom. I made a really big mistake when I had left the door open. Well, this alone wouldn't be such a problem if my brain wouldn't have informed me that _somebody_ is still asleep in my bedroom.

_Well shit._

Dante yawned loudly, covering his face from the sunlight. My gaze quickly wandered away from his chiseled to perfection chest to Norenat who just froze. She shut down like a computer, not even daring to turn around, instead she opened her mouth staring at me, trying to speak, but no words left her lips. I swallowed loudly and turned my vision back to the man. Yeah, I remembered that he only wore his leather pants and that made me concerned.

"Good morning." He smiled at us and took a few steps, stretching his arms, the display making my blood boil. I couldn't take my eyes off him and it was annoying me to hell. I had a feeling that he did this on purpose, well, at least what I can assume from his grin.

"M-morning? Dante?" Norenat turned around, she moved in slow motion. "I- uh, I didn't know you're here… I'm… I'll come back later."

"Norenat." He just nodded in her direction and walked towards me with a content look on his face. This pissed me off a lot.

"Yes, um, I'll be back later." she could only chuckle and smile in embarrassment as she walked out from the kitchen to the door. "Nero, please call me when you're free alright?"

"Hey um but you–" I tried to save the situation but my mind gave a slight note to stop right there. "Okay, see you later." I gave her a smile with an apologizing look in my eyes, she nodded in response and left. Dante was beside me, getting a glass for himself to consume some water. We fell silent for a minute but turned to each other the same time.

"Wow, somebody made it into some quite famous magazines." Dante whistled, browsing through the magazines Norenat left here.

"You read things like that old man?" I stood by his side, watching him suspiciously.

"Nah, one of my co-workers does." Dante's light blue eyes bored into mine, with a smirk on his lips. I realized he was too close and I could feel the hairs on my back standing up, sending a shiver down my spine.

Just what the hell does this reaction exactly mean? It was early morning – it was noon but in soberness it meant 5 AM – my mind registered sunlight, aspirin, Dante and his scent of leather and strawberry and that's all. Oh, and that tingling feeling in my stomach, along with my heart hammering in my ribcage, just fucking get a grip yourself, body, because getting a morning erection would be the worst that could happen now. It could even out master the awkwardness of waking up next to him.

"So what are you doing here?" I asked him, raising a brow, flinching away from his eyes, getting some space for myself and staying back a little.

"You don't remember then." he chuckled, following my direction, to lean against on the counter next to me. We were going back and forth between two god damned counters it was beginning to seem ridiculous.

"You drank too much, your friend asked me to help you get home… then you got aggressive. Like, no offense I'm happy to see you but you pretty much trashed my shirt. Then Meagan and I carried your sorry ass to bed and you sucker punched me in the face."

"And you really expect me to believe this?" Something forced a grin to my face. Oh yeah, it was this cheap lie.

"Believe in whatever you feel like but you owe me for that punch in the face." he laughed, "You're really lucky that I heal fast."

"But how come I knocked you out with one punch when back then I had smashed your face to the ground several times and you just walked it off?" I crossed my arms, getting a little suspicious now. He saw that I didn't buy it.

"Alcohol." he shrugged and walked away, back to the living area, gathering his shirt which was apparently on my couch "But you see–" He raised the clothing, it had large hole in it."Whatever you drank made you do this, kid, maybe you should skip it next time we go out."

Did I just hear that right? _We_ go out? I wanted to ask him what he meant but instead my mind went blank entirely, but soon came up with a reasonable question.

"Say, Dante, why did you give me Yamato?" Because yes, my sober head thought this would be the best time for interrogating him.

Dante just looked at me with a puzzled expression on his face, looks like the question caught him little off guard.

"Well, definitely not to place it on the wall like you did with your sword." he pointed at Red Queen, the majestic blade was currently placed on the wall as decoration, since nowadays I didn't really have use of her. And now I felt guilty about it. "And I hope you don't sleep with my bro's sword like your gun either."

"I don't, so there's no need to worry about that, old man." I barked at him in response, earning laughter. Damn this man.

"Good." he smiled and walked back to the kitchen, settling down on one of the bar stools. "So how come you left Fortuna and Kyrie?"

"The jobs at the Order became monotonous, they treated me like black sheep even after I saved their stupid city…" I stopped before my voice could turn too aggressive and took a deep breath. "…and they gave me shitty missions where I had to look after stupid rich brats. That's when fortune knocked on my door. Kyrie didn't mind, she was happy that I could finally do what I like." I grabbed some mugs and looked up to meet his eyes. "Coffee?"

"Yeah, thanks. But still, I'd never imagine you living here, in a place like this, and working with music. And most importantly giving a performance like last night." There was something unsettling in his tone.

"Life goes on, doesn't it?" My gaze focused on the cream and the boiling water as I fetched some coffee for us. "But you still didn't give me a honest answer on Yamato."

I handed him his cup with my bringer, carefully placing it in front of him, taking a step back and watching him curiously.

"I wanted to see you protect yourself and become stronger." Any immature signs just vanished from his face for a second, he looked really serious about that, but it didn't take him long until that cocky smirk reappeared on his face. "I wonder if I could knock you down so easily now like I did at the headquarters."

"Maybe we should test this out sometime, don't ya think?" I replied with the same grin.

"Now that's the spirit." he laughed, taking a sip from his coffee.

"You know, I still have to get used to it somehow." I was focusing on my spoon that I was swirling around in my coffee.

"Well, it's a really different world than mine or the one you were used to in Fortuna." he said with a light smile on his face now. One of those situations when I could hear that people are speaking with a smile, and as I stood there all sober and sore it actually felt good. I could almost say it was that stupid warm and fuzzy feeling in my tummy –

"Thanks for the coffee kid, and anyway, welcome to town. We should meet up later some time? What ya think? Testing out your old skills? Maybe going out, but we'll save that for later." He leaned over the counter, ruffling my hair before jumping off his seat and gathering his belongings.

"Hey, give me a phone number at least then." I replied, my hands ran through my pockets for my phone to find it in the left one.

"Already did." Dante nodded and walked up to the door. "See you around, superstar."

With that, he closed the door behind himself, humming a rather familiar tune cheerfully, leaving me with all my thoughts suddenly. I was right there to finish off my coffee when the door opened and a silver haired head showed up for just one second.

"And seriously, Nero. Change the mattress in your bed, it felt like sleeping on a boulder."

I swear to god I'm so happy I can clean things properly because coffee was all around me in the next second.

* * *

I thought about calling Norenat again but I wasn't really in the mood for that so I just sent her a message that I'll be meeting her later, thankfully she replied that she'll wait for me in her office. _Time to call up Meg._

I sat down on the couch with my phone in my hand after taking a shower. I was confused. I wanted to believe Dante about the alcohol thing… but it sounded like something he just made up. I'm pretty sure something might have happened or he has different reasons for accompanying me in my bed. Just… what so fucking ever. I'm sore and my head still feels dizzy, time to call Meagan.

"Hey Meg." I greeted her when the phone finally connected.

"It's about time, Sleeping Beauty! Say, you had the prince next to you this morning?" Her jokes were not appreciated right now; I implied this with a grunt. "So either he left before giving you a wake-up kiss or…?"

"Just, shut up or I'm hanging the phone off, woman." Please just stop, Meagan. I'm too sober for this shit.

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry. Hey Nero, how are you?" She finished laughing at me and her tone went back to normal again.

"Woke up not so long ago to find Norenat banging on my door with articles and magazines, then Dante walked out from my bedroom and now she probably thinks I have a thing with him, but I'm… I don't." I trailed off, musing about my own words.

"That's… a way to start the day, how about I'll pick you up in thirty minutes? I got a cat call from Nattie to catch up with you, and you owe me an explanation."

* * *

"Earth to Nero? Hello!" Meagan looked at me with a smile, leaning to the side of her car, watching my bewildered expression. She looked quite fresh in khaki pants and a white top, the black locks were now in a perfect ponytail, only a few, tiny bits of hair dangling in front of her face. My problem was currently a leather coat placed on the backseat of her car.

"You kept his coat. Meagan Bellerimo, you kept his _fucking coat_." It was definitely Dante's. I could never mistake this for anything, the red leather whit short sleeves and a little bullet hole in it. He got shot? I reached down, pulling the clothing up, it even had the same scent as him. I had a sudden urge to snuggle closer to the coat, the faint smell of strawberries, gunpowder and leather made me feel calm for a second, thankfully my brain was sober enough to stop me, and I don't need more of Meagan's teasing jokes. Besides, I remembered this smell showing up in my dreams. It surprised myself even more remembering that I actually had one last night.

"So what? I kept it so you could meet up with him later. I secured your chance to meet him so you should be thankful, Sleeping Beauty. Now hop in, we're going on a ride." With that, she ended this section of our discussion, closed the door to the back and gestured to me to get into the seat next to the driver's.

"Believe me, I am but he already told me to meet up later. I mean – was this really necessary, woman?" I hopped in, still holding onto the coat, placing it on my lap and closing the door.

"It was…" she trailed off, eyes rolling as she started the engine "You… you should've seen you two together last night. Even when I drove you two back to your apartment. I mean, Nero, you two were like going for each other's throats with all that innuendos and stuff. You see, I am twenty-five years old and going to marry my boyfriend but I felt like a fourteen year old in sex-ed class!"

"What?" I had to snap back to reality, I was too focused with the coat in my lap.

"Yep, you two had that inhuman tension, oh Lord. I mean control your supernaturalness!" She let out a chuckle, watching me suspiciously.

"Great… How's Jake? Did you already tell the news to the others?" I grunted and finally let go of the leather, placing my right hand on the window, looking out to see Capulet's every day glory.

"I did." She let out a sigh.

"And?" I raised a brow. During the last months, when I was forced to go to dance courses with Meg, I got to know her better. We spent a lot time together going to clubs, dancing or even cooking. She is a really good cook, and that's how I found out her little secret. She got a lot calls while she was at my place, teaching me how not to set the kitchen on fire and after a few sessions I noticed her engagement ring – on a side note I realized she actually never wore it when someone from the team, or Norenat was around. That's when Meagan told me she's been dating Tyler's younger brother – never knew he had one though – since one and a half year. They kept it as a secret, since back then the dance team agreed that there will be no romantic relationships in the team, and Meagan was worried about this.

I was a little amazed that they could keep that as a secret for so long, but it was unnecessary? So I helped Meagan build some encouragement to tell it to the others, and she did.

"Well, Tyler told me he knew it all along and that he's fine with us … Tho' he'll have to talk with Jake about some things, he also welcomed me in his family, and the others were happy." She smiled, eying her right hand on the wheel where she wore the neatly carved golden ring. "Jake's fine, he'll be back from his trip tomorrow, he wanted to see me perform live so badly so would you mind getting me some tickets for August?" She finally dropped the theme, turning her gaze back to the road again.

I didn't really hear the question, everything was so confusing and this day hasn't even really started. I looked down to my lap, regarding the coat again, and then suddenly it hit me.

"So how did you get his coat?"

"Yes Meagan, no problem I get you tickets, _ah_ whatever." She laughed and exited the main road. "He left it in the backseat _aand_ I might have forgotten to warn him. So from where do you know this guy?" It was a bad decision to look at her: she was smiling like a child on Christmas morning.

"Long story." I replied with a sigh, I could feel an awkward grin appearing on my face.

It is indeed a long story. How long has it been? A year ago? A whole year of changing, exploring, doing things, right?

"Don't give me this, _dio mio." _Everyone liked it when Meagan used Italian l while speaking. She rolled every letter gracefully anyway, but when she changed to her mother tongue it was if like silk was rolling out from her mouth.. However, she only changed when she was sending someone to hell or loving someone to death. Or she was cooking and something went wrong – those were her best moments.

"I was sent to kill him once … and he also tried to kill me then we saved a city and the whole world from some supernatural stuff, now happy?" I barked out the shortest version of that day.

"Absolutely! So, he's like a demon hunter too? Man, this demon business is still too much to me, if my father would hear this he'd call the local priest on you." She laughed and turned the car to the right.

"So you really want me to show up on your wedding?"I grinned back at her.

"I'm just kidding, of course I want you to come, and your friend Dante should come too. It would be _romantic_ wouldn't it?" She gave that one word a slight suggestive tone and I huffed in annoyance.

Damn, will she ever get stop that? I shuddered at the thought of dragging Dante along with me. Although I've never seen him in anything else than in his hunting attire – and shirtless, that's also an outfit. I wonder whether a suit would look good on –

_Oh no you don't, Nero._ My brain was giving me stupid thoughts, also raising my hopes for no reason. What hopes? I don't even know myself. Jeez, I was fighting with myself again. And I bet it was written all over my face, at least Meg's smirk said so. I just… can this day like stop and everybody forget what happened?

"I'm not into him. Besides, what are you? Some matchmaker?" Just please don't let her notice that I'm slightly lying.

"Ha ha, very funny Nero." We stopped at a red light, so Meagan had time to look me in the eye and see the confused thoughts. "Let's be honest here, Nero – if you're not into him then right I'm now in Italy in our family orchard stepping on grapes to make wine, the hell you're into him. You gave yourself out with your songs. You know, I always wondered who you mention there, but now it's all clear, Nero you're all clearly into Dante."

Maybe that's why I was never really interested in Kyrie. Women are such a fuss and annoying.

However, she was right at some point. I sighed and rested my gaze on the coat which was in my lap. Who am I kidding? I mean, let's just get a few things straight: I wrote a bunch of songs and started this career because I was left with such emotions. Emotions and thoughts caused by that one man, who jumped into my life – literally, and gave it a one hundred and eighty degree turn. But even though Dante was a huge silver haired, pain-in-the-ass question mark, still I found myself interested in him more than I should have. All through my life I was treated like in Fortuna, only my adoptive parents, Kyrie and Credo cared about me, so it was a pretty nice change when Dante walked in and we formed something stronger and other than just a friendship, a _connection_.

Now that sounds weird. Also I can't go over his features: the silvery locks and piercing blue eyes… Our similarities were apprehensive first but I was glad that at least someone didn't treated me as a lesser person because of my hair and features, or about my arm. When we fought he didn't treat it differently, he went for kicking my ass and dragging me around by my arm a few times without any difficulties. I guess this proves my point.

I wanted to know him better back then, and I still do. That's why I was so angry when he left. I spent a few weeks agonizing on him and that's when I started to write songs.

But how come everything links to having some kind of affection towards him? I was never exactly sure about my own preferences. In the last months however, I found myself more outgoing towards men. Not sure why but women always seemed such difficult beings to me, they have all that weird things they do and it made me confused several times. Basically, I didn't feel like playing to that team. It's so lame figuring out this after writing all those songs, flooded with innuendos and everything. Good going Nero, you're such a genius.

"What, rendered speechless?"

"No, I'm just…" How do you say in woman's language that I'm interested in him when I can't even explain it to myself?

"Having revelations?"

"Shut up Meagan." I barked at her, shutting down my own thoughts. "Besides, where are we going?" I was looking out to the tall glass buildings, parks, currently analyzing a little coffee shop where university students were sitting with their similar laptops, talking about something really eagerly.

"Taking a little extra ride, then I'm driving you to the office, Norenat called me to grab you, gosh, you should have heard her voice, she was so embarrassed. After that though…This place." She tossed a card from one of her pockets at me.

"Devil May Cry? What is this?" I turned the card in my hand, one of my talons gliding down the soft paper. The card itself was black, bright red words engraved into it along with a phone number. Didn't seem familiar at all.

"A place to shop for wedding dresses!" I frowned at her, so in reply she started to laugh at my confused expression. "What do you think? It's your friend's place."

"No." I tightened my grip on the card. "We're not going there. I just woke up with him next to me, I mean I think I shocked him enough last night."

"Nero, we're gonna go there and you give his coat back _or …_" with that, she abruptly stopped the car, just to make me clench to my seat. "You can wait until he notices his missing gear and calls you up himself." Now that doesn't sound better either.

I was ready to shoot back a snarky response but my phone went off. I looked at the screen, speaking of the devil. I huffed.

"That already happened." I snarled at Meg who just giggled and pressed the green phone icon. "Hey Dante it's me, what's up?

"Do you happen to have my coat, kid?" Well, that was straightforward.

"No greetings?" I barked at him and then I realized why he is in the line for the first place. Not to talk to me, only to get his stuff back, so I calmed down my tone. "Yes, I do."

"When could you give it back to me?" His voice was the usually deep and calm, not even reacting to mine. He already lit my nerves on fire. I couldn't make his expressions out first, but I had a blind guess he was grinning.

"Meet me at my apartment tonight?" I can't believe this just left my mouth so easily. I heard Meagan barking back a chuckle. God damn it.

Dante seemed to muse over my words, and even I did the same, it made me nervous. So he considered coming over. What could possibly happen, right? _Right?_

"I'm afraid that ain't gonna happen, I have a job to do, remember? I got a mission just when I got back, it might take a few days." He paused for a while, and now somehow I was sure he was grinning. I could see his trademark grin, as if he like … props his feet up on his desk or whatever with a beer in his hands. I mean he's the kind of a person who would treat a hangover with alcohol – leaning back in his chair and such.

Looks like I'm stuck with this jerk's stupid and wonderfully smelling, freaking good piece of clothing.

"Great, then what do you want from me? To babysit your coat?" I asked back, my imaginary self walking into a peaceful daydream where Dante was chilling with his beer, and flipped his desk along with him. That serves this man just right.

"Just take care of it, will ya? I'll call you when I get back." He laughed.

"Fine." I replied, taking a quick glance at Meagan, who in the meantime had already stopped the car. We were in the parking lot of the agency.

* * *

"So these would be for now, Daisy – Oh! Nero, Meagan, _finally_." Norenat turned away from her assistant when I stepped in. I knew this place just like my palm. The tall building was on the east side of Capulet, the modern glass tower rose above the houses which seemed like ants compared to it.

But honestly – I didn't like the aura of this place. Norenat's office was on the 12th level, it had a great view of the city itself. The room was simple though, round shaped, the walls colored bright green with wooden covering. She had an 'L' shaped table with a black leather chair; the office also had some comfy couches, made out from the same black leather. Also the room was decorated with posters in glass frames, awards and things like that. Needless to say, every award was hers; I often admired the little golden statues and platinum discs. Wonder if I'll ever get one of those.

"Hey, Norenat." We waited until Daisy left. She was a neat young girl around twenty, had a heart shaped face with freckles and ginger locks. She was really smart though; I ran into her once when I got lost when coming to Norenat by myself, remembering that Norenat had said something about her assistant once so I had been lucky then.

"Take a seat please, we have some things to talk about." She pointed to the couch next to the wall, with a small coffee table and an armchair next to it. Then, she stood up and took her place there. We sat down in front of her.

I was kind of confused and anxious. Part of me was ready to explain everything about what happened when Dante… yeah when he was there all sudden, but I wasn't in the mood to have this conversation, so I was hoping that she would drop the subject already.

"Um, alright." I took a quick glance at Meagan next to me. She was – opposite to me – in a jolly good mood. "Now you all are just freaking me out. Did something happen that I'm not aware of?"

"Nero, I got a bunch of emails from famous brands who want you for their advertising campaigns: drinks, cars, jeans, mobile phones, underwear." She put several documents in front of me. I curiously lifted the first one, then looked up at her. I was confused.

"And why's that so urgent? I mean, we have a meeting tomorrow anyway, so why today?"

"Because even if your three stop tour will have a high income, you know, people are now starting to like you. Also everyone likes showing off, and to remind you, this is part of your contract." Of course, paperwork said that, artist does this. At this time I was used to it already but I hated to be reminded of this little part of our deal.

"But I get to choose you said?" Now that I examined the papers more I noticed the offers, well damn, high class sponsors, that's sure.

"Yeah, well some of them. You get to choose the brands, they'll send their teams for a photo shoot or commercial, but we already found the ones with the best pricing, and something that would really get people's the attention. You only have to say yes or no." She took the papers out from my hand and gave me three from the pack.

"Why do I feel like this is going to end up with less clothing and a group of models?" As I looked at the papers, I spotted it immediately, the magic words _"half naked"_. Now this isn't going to end well.

"You're just right, I had a chat with Karen, the lady who's in charge of the advertisement links here and she said this will definitely do."

"Wow, this company has really hot ads…" Meagan looked into the paper over my shoulder. I guess she knew them very well – I actually did too but I'm so not gonna start a monologue about my clothes and such. Most likely not about my boxers, I mean, personal space, anyone?

"This one? Man, Karen didn't bother to walk into my personal space already." I sighed maybe a little too dramatically. "Really…?"

"Nero, you have to face that…" Norenat started but I cut her off.

"Yeah, I know, my audience is eighty percent female so I have to do appealing things to them, got it." Waving her off, I turned my attention back to the paper. I was considering a no, but then… well. Something came up in my head. Something embarrassing and kind of ridiculous, but… I wonder how Dante gets those magazines? Do his coworkers – whoever they may be, leave it around? I hope so… Can't wait to have a reaction from him. This is now pure teasing, just the same kind what he did when walking out from my room, shirtless, allowed to be seen by everyone – well, for me and Norenat, but the idea is the same.

"Anyhow, I want to congratulate you for the concert last night. I already showed you the results but that's just the beginning. After we're done here, Meagan will take you to a press conference, the magazines and such have lots of questions to you already. Looks like the interview for that radio station wasn't enough." She looked at me, her whole face lit up in a weird kind of joy, like that motherly happiness.

"Thank you but… I don't get a day off? You know, hangover and such…" I grunted, the photo shoot would be next week's Tuesday.

"This is only the beginning, but don't worry, you'll get your rest soon." I heard these words… Three months ago, just right before we started to rehearse for the concert.

"Which means like a few months, right?" So no more free time with the guys or going out with… yeah.

"Most likely. And you also wanted to start recording, didn't you?"

Well, I did record some vocals for one song – just to have Jack massing with them, but I'm not sure if the tours and advertising stuff will get along with my own things and recording. I also even have to write new stuff, how am I supposed to get inspiration? How did I do that last time? Oh yeah, I know who 'helped' me but what about this time? Now that he's actually near? I'm not tripping over my own feet for him or something, so I won't go around like some kid who just ate too much candy and all he can write down is "I like candy" if this is a right metaphor. I have to stop focusing on Dante with my songs. But can I do that?

"I'm planning on postponing that, since I'm still working on songs, and I have two upcoming concerts, you know. One song is not enough for a new album, and come on – 8Bit heart was just released." I retorted after a while, noticing that once again I've fallen into my own thoughts.

"Ah, now that you mention it, you got invitations for your first award ceremony." Norenat took another short trip between her desk and the coffee table, placing an elegant golden envelope there.

"What?" I lifted the paper, holding it carefully. Funny, it seemed really important for some reason. But my first award ceremony already? Isn't it a little bit too soon?

"Yep, you heard right. Though, mind you I wouldn't expect awards already, maybe it's just formality. Hmm, your first album just came out two months ago, so it's most likely formality" she mused. "… Oh, you have to bring someone with you that night." I couldn't decide if the first two sentences were only her thoughts suddenly getting out loud, but I felt a little bad about it. I think I pretty much had the chance to win something? But let's see what will happen.

"Bring someone with me? Like wh –, oh, okay. I got it."

"Thinking on bringing your prince, eh?" Meagan playfully elbowed me. I swear to God if she keeps referring to him as some shiny cartoon knight there will be consequences.

"You wish." I barked back, looking at a confused Norenat, who seemed embarrassed all of a sudden. "I'm going to call up a friend for this occasion."

"Who? Any lady friend you got?" Meagan raised an eyebrow which surprised me because I told her about Kyrie, I mean, the fact that she still… exists?

"Yes," I replied a little bit louder than I actually wanted, defending the fact that I have other friends.

"Now that might be a great idea." Norenat turned away from us, lost in her own thoughts "And… and if she comes with you…They sure will ask about your relationship, so, hmm don't say anything about who she is to you. The media would go oh so mad, _my oh my_!" At this point Norenat kinda focused out, her eyes strongly fixed on a spot way over my head. She was lost in her plans again.

"Norenat?" By this time I knew moments like this would occur often when she gets ideas… Not always great ones, though.

"Ah, sorry … Well." She focused back on us. "The event won't be tomorrow, don't worry. It'll be in October, now it's July, so you'll have plenty of time to finish your tour, and maybe after that we could plan up a new one, what do you think? Outside from the country?"

"Sounds like a plan, doesn't it?" I folded the papers and placed the envelope between them, standing up from my seat. "So, any restrictions about the questions?"

"Try keep the suggestions low, I mean, you pulled on a really good show, you know what I'm talking about, don't you? Your little show with Matthew." She raised a finger with a slight warning in her tone.

"Yeah, maaaybe we got a little carried away? But hey, they liked it?" My response was a shrug, I should have felt bad for being scolded by her, but nah, the concert had been way too good to feel bad about it.

She sighed. "You know it's not my business how you live your life or with whom, but try to keep them out from your personal life. I mean the media. You think it's pretty sunny for you right now, but believe me – there will be times when they'll be on your doorstep. So if you get into situations like today morning… They'll have their own ways." I guess she interpreted that situation with Dante wrong.

"Yeah, about that, before you get any ideas, nothing happ –"

"That's not the matter right now, Nero." Norenat interrupted me. "Also not my business at all. I'm just saying that you'll have to be prepared."

"I am, you don't have to worry about me, Norenat. I was a demon hunter, remember? I think I can deal with nosy people. You don't need to patronize me, I am not a child who needs an upper hand to hold onto. I hope I made myself clear."

That's the one thing I don't accept, people treating me like I have no clue about how this world works, because hello, I have. I might be a black sheep kid from an isolated island, but I'm aware of what's happening here.

"Absolutely, my apologies." She tensed a little, staring at the velvet carpet under her feet.

"It's alright." I smiled at her, trying to ease the tension in the room. "So, that's all then? We wouldn't like to make those journalists wait now, are we?"

"Of course."

A little weight fell off me when she finally raised her head and smiled back.

* * *

**LOOK I FINISHED IT WOOOOSH!**

Seriously tough, it took me too much time so yeah finally I'm done aaaand by the time you get this spring break is ovER. Ughhh. Well.

Until next time~


	6. Not a good boy

**AN:** I-I'm not who you think I am I-Im not who you think I am, I'm not a good boy~ By the time you guys get this, I just fulfilled my 17th year on this planet. I'm now half a step away from being a legal adult and that's crazy. Also I went to Austria in the meantime, daamn I've been too many places already this year like wow

Thank you for the reviews and favorites guys! Keep it SSStylish!

**Warnings: **Mature content. (That's why this is rated _M_ remember? Also I'm mildly ashamed for writing this okay?!Nobody told me smut is hard to write?!) Yeah and cussing, aaa little bit more than usual. Also, around the middle it switches to Dante's POV for a while.

**I don't own Devil May Cry and the characters, Capcom does.**

**Special thanks and love for PorcelainPills for still editing my stuff, you go hun3**

**Also shout out for Simon Curtis and his songs, I hope the next album will be out soon!**

* * *

_Chapter six: Not a good boy_

I can't decide if this week was incredibly short or not, it seemed like both months and seconds to me. There were moments when time ran around like a kid who ate too much sugar and when it was an old man going to bed on iron legs – really freaking slow.

The worst thing is that I was left with my thoughts. And yeah, that coat too. I usually don't muse on anything for too long, because it either gets solved by itself or I just decide to ignore it. Not something like this, tough. I eventually came to the realization that I'm, in fact, attracted to Dante. Yes, that noisy old man has the look, that's for sure, but I don't _know _him. And no, no way in hell I'll be a quick round to him anytime, so when he drags his ass back to turn up for his gear, I'm gonna, yeah something, like, how do you befriend guys like him – yes that's the first step. Friendship, Nero, you can do this! We both like… fighting? And killing things? That's something useful. Or maybe it will be the perfect example how to start a war. I have no idea.

I want to know him, better at least. I need to know what messed up my head enough to write songs, to be confused and overwhelmed. So yeah, this will require me getting my shit together and stepping up for myself. Life taught me that if I stand still and wait nothing will happen, nothing will gracefully fall into my lap and just get everything on its way. No, you have to work to get things done otherwise you'll get depressed and hopeless. I had been hopeless enough to know how to get over this, so I did, and now, here I am, working hard for a dream.

The coat was haphazardly tossed on the chair next to me, I was sitting on the couch in the living room, concentrating intensely, holding a half empty chord sheet and a pencil in my hand. I got up, there was a black piano just right next to the door that leads to my balcony. I walked up to it and sat down, running my demonic hand over the keys. I have been working on this song since I got back from a photo shoot and an interview. It has been six days now that my first concert dropped the bomb on the news and magazines, and somehow they still only managed to get one interview out from me because I refused to go out and have an open debate about my life. That's something I didn't really fancy.

After the concert on Saturday, the photo shoot was organized on Tuesday, and it was way more stressful than I originally thought. There was one set of photos where they gave me their designer briefs and a pair of extremely ripped jeans – that thing was missing like one leg and half of its ass? – and took some photos with an office style setting. I sat on a black leather chair, which was slightly tilted back. I put my feet on a table in front of me and flexed my body for the time they took the photos. Adrian – the photographer – was eager to coordinate all my moves. He was actually flattered that I chose them. Surprisingly, Adrian also had a lot fan ornaments – such as a white T-shirt with the bleeding heart logo on it, or a poster that hung in his studio. He even wore a wristband and had badges on his bag. And he wanted me to sign them. All of them.

It was really nice and actually felt great to my ego, which was needed for this photo shoot. I was really proud of the result until Adrian announced that we're doing the next set and called a bunch of models in. Like, really pretty, cream-skinned, blonde and brunette ladies. Topless. Only in jeans and high heels.

This would have been every man's dream but honestly, they didn't impress me. I – I get it, naked women and men sell the best. Female readers have their muscular, well toned men in underwear, on the other hand men have the pretty girl who's topless and yeah… Topless a lot. Nevertheless I couldn't care less about the happy-go-lucky models around me, a few of them tried to flirt, but it only made me more annoyed. And when it came to working with them...

There was this one set where I was standing next to a wall, when the photographer instructed one of the girls to hold onto my shoulders and press herself against my back which was facing the camera I had to look back and hold some kind of "predatory gaze" but to me, it felt unnerving to have her pressed into my back. Too close, way too close. So yeah, I was really glad when it was over – oh, I was naïve. On the next picture I had to pose with all six of the models, I mean, come on, cut me some slack! This is my photo shoot, right? And I wasn't a womanizer at all. I kinda lost my temper when the guy told me to grab one of the models' waist with my bringer – that was, no that was it. The poor girl also seemed terrified to touch it, so I raised my voice against this set. What got me out of my skin about it? I don't know and… I don't want to know.

Or maybe yes, whatever. My demon side has been acting up again since the concert. It became calm for a few hours in the aftermath of that evening, but it returned to its unsatisfied stirring state really fast. Bastard. It kept being silent ever since I adjusted to Capulet's life, now it's playing the whiny kid again? That's bullshit!

I wonder who could help me figure out this god damned dem…. _Jackpot._

My phone was on the piano, so I grabbed it and looked up the old man's number, I was on my way to press the call button but my phone went off instead. I got a call from someone I didn't know. Well, one thing I've learned in my life is not to pick up calls from strange numbers. So guess what I am doing now.

"Yes?" I asked.

"Are you Nero?" A deep female voice answered, she didn't speak too much but her tone had a light melody to it. Suspicious.

"Depends on who's askin'." Now that I think about it I must have heard this voice before. I shifted on the piano's seat.

"Name's Trish, I'm working with Dante." Her voice sounded like she was smiling widely.

"Ah, in that case, yeah, I'm Nero."

"Great, Dante will be back soon, he called me an hour ago to get you here…" She paused, sounding unsure all of sudden. "Or was it more than just one hour ago?"

"Well, I'll get going then." I stood up from the piano, starting to organize some of the sheets there with one hand.

"Do you know the address?" She asked.

"Yes, I do." I smirked to myself, sinking my free arm into one of my pockets and getting out the card.

"Great, I'll be waiting then." And she hung up the phone.

Now I only need to change and I'm good to go. However… Before I left, I placed my hands on the keys, playing out a few notes and after a few minutes I scribbled them down, settling down to the piano to try out my voice just one more time.

_Little boy's coming to his own_

_He's gotta make some big decisions 'cause he's grown_

_He's gonna get a rude awakening if he don't realize_

_Who really loves him, who lies_

I tried to keep my voice melodic, full with optimism, and then something stumbled into my mind, so I changed the tune and my voice with that. The sudden improvising also changed my whole view on the song. My voice altered between high and low notes.

_Don't you ever stop to wonder if they love you_

_When you look into the mirror do you see the truth_

_Or do the voices in your head have got you confused_

_Do they make you wanna say_

_I-I'm not who you think I am_

Suddenly I felt distressed. The last line was somehow uncomfortable the instant it left my mouth. Did I really think that?

* * *

So the shop – or the office, I don't know how I should describe it – was in the run-down part of Capulet. I didn't mind it but I couldn't go over the things that Dante had said to me. "Completely different part of the town" he said, and yes, now I can confirm that it was true. I called for a taxi and it took us almost forty minutes to get out from the usual 4 PM traffic jam. But other than that we got there soon. I paid the driver and stepped out from the cab, standing now in front of the old man's shop – or office. It seemed like a shop, there was an enormous red neon sign telling the name of this building to anyone who passes by: "evil May Cry" Wait, that's not right, I only noticed a few seconds later that the first letter's lights were almost burnt out, it only flickered a few times. So the building itself was worn down, looked destroyed and cheaply reconstructed on some points, the front door seemed loose, like if it was just fixed a few days ago. I wonder what kind of people get into here to hire the old man. Well, besides Norenat.

I walked up to the door, just ready to knock when it flew open. A tall blonde woman was standing in front of me with a perky smile on her cherry red lips. She wore black leather, a lot of it: high heeled boots, pants, corset and armbands. Her long lashes flattered at me, she had icy blue eyes, way brighter than my own… the look on her face was kind of reminding me of Dante however… Almost, inhuman? Was she a demon?

"Welcome to Devil May Cry, Nero," she said warmly and stepped away to let me in. I gave her a small smile and looked around. The room was spacey and there were a lot things that tingled my eyes at instant. For example, the weapons hanging on the wall: There was Sparda, that huge sword, another simple looking one, a shotgun, nunchaku looking thing, two swords crossing each other and a devilish looking guitar. That thing looked sick!

They were all hung up behind a table which seemed like Dante's 'workplace'. The desk was covered with papers, empty pizza boxes and some magazines. Also there were a few bullets and a single glove tossed there, it looked worn out, I doubt he wore it any time lately. He had a framed picture and an old telephone there too, I was curious about the picture but a I heard a voice behind me.

Anyhow, I couldn't go over the fact how messy the whole place was. It seemed as if Dante didn't like to clean at all, the empty beer cans, papers and boxes scattered around the room made it feel as if he put off cleaning on any occasion he could. The place might have been chaotic but I guess the old man really loved it. He clearly put a lot effort into fixing the furniture, probably by himself. This made me imagine Dante sitting down on a shiny Sunday to fix the old washing machine, and I couldn't suppress a giggle.

"So, how's Capulet doing to you?" Trish asked, sitting on the couch around the bar – the old man had a fully furnished bar! With all kinds of alcohol on its shelves and it also had the working version of the Devil May Cry sign. Also looking around I found a pool table. I once tried that for relaxing, Matt took me to a local bar, playing some pool and drinking some beer.

"Fine, I guess. The city's cool." I was still looking around, but I heard the woman chuckle and turned my gaze towards her. "Hey, you're pretty familiar to me."

"You might remember me as Gloria," she laughed. "May the Savior be with you on your journey." She batted her lashes at me and suddenly it felt like a flashback.

"Yeah, I remember," I hummed in response, finally sitting down on the couch, dropping the coat between us. "You were at the Savior statue too?"

She nodded and carried on with smiling. I felt a little awkward with her alone.

Thank God it didn't take long to us to hear screeching wheels outside of the shop along with swearing and yelling, and Dante barged in. We got up to see he's holding a woman in his hands, she was mildly bleeding around her stomach area and Dante had some cuts on his shoulders as well. The woman was grunting and coughing up blood also holding onto Dante's neck.

"Dante, what the hell happened?!" Trish yelled and gestured me to get off the couch, she threw the coat away to let him place the ebony haired lady on the couch. She was still blabbering some obscenities at the elder man but he apparently found no interest in them.

"Well, long story short she got hit pretty bad by a pillar." Dante stood up, giving a light smirk to me "Hey kid."

I was standing there dumbfounded, who's this woman? But nevertheless, I got half of the mind to force a small smile and a shallow "Hi" to him. Good going Nero.

"So, she got hit by a pillar? I mean, isn't that a little bit rare to happen?" Trish ended our silly glares at each other, making Dante snap back to reality, the cruel one where his companion was bleeding her guts out.

"I found the demon's nest first and she stumbled upon the minions but the place was already falling apart so I guess that's what happened, she didn't tell me too much, you see." Dante collected some disinfectant and gauze from the bar counters.

When he got back to hold the wounds, Trish stormed out to the kitchen, rumbling around with loud noises, then looking out, yelling at Dante.

"Where do you keep the med kit, Dante?!" she shouted, her voice was strong and actually kind of frightening.

"It has to be around here somewhere… " The elder man replied, then looked up, searching for my gaze. This sounded bad.

"Hey kid, would you mind…uh..." I looked into his eyes, Dante stopped mid-sentence and gave me a pale look. Dante was really concerned of his lady companion's state and that I understand perfectly. "Would you mind running up to my bedroom for the med kit? It must be in one of my nightstands, just turn up the drawers as much as you want."

"Sure, old man." I nodded and turned around, running up to on the stairs as quick as my legs brought me. Then I stopped, shouting back to Dante. "Which door is it?!"

"Last on the corridor!" came a short reply and I heard Dante cursing and Trish yelling something at him but I entered the said door and, for no particular reason, shut it behind myself.

So there I was. In the devil's liar, a "simple" bedroom with a dresser, two nightstands and a definitely king sized bed with red satin sheets. I smoothed my hands over the fabric and noticed that something is off about me. I had goose bumps from the room itself. The smell of strawberries, leather and aftershave. An interesting mix I'd say, but hell the room was erupting some sort of welcoming scent to me, and I desperately tried to fill my nose. I sat down on the right side of the bed since I had to be quick, so there's no more time to waste with thinking about that – HOLY SHIT this is Dante's bedroom. I am sitting on his bed.

Looking for the med kit, _but still._ Well, he was in my bedroom just a week ago, so it's only fair. Maybe I'm amongst the few who can tell their tale about this mysterious man cave he has. But that sounded silly. I had an idea about what kind of man he is, having one night stands, not staying with long relationships and that disappointed me.

Alright, back to that med kit, Nero. Agonizing won't get me anywhere. Besides, there might be a chance that I can get more of him, right?

"Let's see," I muttered, opening the first drawer. "No, no, uh." I found nothing but condoms, lube and all sorts of kinds, oh God I felt bad for a minute. Yeah, the over sexualized songwriter just felt bad about finding a bunch of… well, more than average sized packages. Sometimes it does kick back that I never really got laid.

Alright, this clearly isn't the right drawer. But instead of getting up and walking around the bed, I gave into my curiosity and rolled to the other side. Man, Dante's bed was incredibly smooth and comfortable. Yeah, way better than mine, Dante was absolutely right about that. I'd rather wake up here than my own – okay so motherfucking med kit, Nero.

I looked through the second drawer, guiding my hands trough the foil wrappers and there was it. "Bingo," I muttered, trying to lift the white box with the small red cross on it, but it was stuck. The box had a handle and it was attached to a… oh God damn it, Dante. Handcuffs? With red fur? _Really? _

It might had been through a lot, because the little steel cuff on it came off easily, but damn my face lit up like a torch. I bet he put a great use to this. Maybe he'd gladly try it with m– med kit. I ignored all the dirty fantasies filling my brain and managed to separate the handle from the steel part. Yeah, the thing was free and I was good to go. I carefully placed the handcuffs back and shut the drawer. Well, that was a thing.

I ran down to the living room to see Dante with his head looking up to the ceiling as Trish was freeing their lady friend from her tops to take a better look at the wound. Whoops, I carefully tore away my gaze and stumbled towards them, handing out the box so Trish could take it.

"Thanks kid." Dante gave me a smile and winked at me, I just rolled my eyes.

Oh Dante, you and your tricks.

"Okay, you can sit back now, I can handle this." Trish said with a light smile. Looks like in the meantime the woman came back to consciousness. She actually looked pretty angry.

Dante got up, cleaning his blood stained hands with a wet towel the blonde woman has placed there.

"Will she be alright?" I asked, giving a worried look to Dante.

"Lady?" he chuckled, and turned back to the women, the ebony haired one slightly rose from the couch, shouting at the man. She had two different colored eyes, both red and blue, and short, spikey black hair and a pretty, round shaped face.

"I swear I'll redecorate your face with bullets, Dante!" She yelled, demanding to get up, but Trish seemed to be stronger, pushing her down like if she was a little feather. Well, clearly the blonde wasn't human.

Wait a minute, did Dante just call the woman 'Lady'? There is so much confusion about these three already.

"Ah, I see." I replied shortly after, not exactly sure how to react. "Well, uh, that's good I guess."

Dante chuckled, picked up his coat from the ground where Trish had tossed it and hung it up well, taking a short glance at me and then back to the leather clothing again. I wonder what's on his mind.

Anyhow, after a few minutes of listening to Lady's grunts, Trish managed to treat her wounds and stop the bleeding. She said she'll bring the woman home, gracefully lifting her from the couch, revealing that the carpet soaked up a few liters of her blood – which was probably waiting for Dante to clean off. Trish told me that when we'll meet again – she sounded so sure about it, I had no doubts – she wants an autograph and a photo with me, her words made me smile a little, as they left with Lady.

Dante let out a sigh when they left, settling down on the clean part of the couch, then as if a lighting struck him, he got up, giving me a wide smile.

"I haven't even said hi to you now, did I?"

"You did." I frowned, looking at him a little nervously. "Listen Dante, there's something I wanted to ask you."

"Sure, just a sec, I get something to drink, m'kay?" And he went to the kitchen. "Oh, and thanks for bringing my coat back, and sorry for the mess," he yelled from the other room.

"Nah, it's alright." I sat down on the clean part of the couch, making sure I was far away from the blood. Dante returned with two cans of beer, handing one to me. I accepted it with a small thanks before opening it.

"So what did you want to ask, kid?" He smiled after taking a sip and setting the can onto the table, ruffling my hair, earning a frown from me. "By the way, I saw your photos. Damn, those models… they were lucky weren't they?"

"Yeah, sure they were, I guess." I blushed so my hand came up to my face, trying to cover the redness. He saw the photos, _good. _"So umm, yeah, is it possible that my inner demon kind of bitches for no reason? I mean –" I let out a short sigh "Before I came to Capulet, it was itching and I heard this noisy little voice in the back of my skull. After getting my new job it calmed down, but now it's… doing the thing again. Do you happen to know why?"

Dante hummed, looking at me with a frown on his face.

"I might, kid. But it's kind of… individual. Demons aren't all the same, half and part ones more likely to differ from full demons."

"But still, it's literally whining about getting its satisfaction." I replied with a growl.

"So you say this stuff's giving you the whining phase?" He huffed, settling down in front of me on the table, taking another sip from his beer.

"Yes." I tried to avoid his gaze, Dante decided to sit down just too close to me, his scent instantly filling my nose. Great, all I needed was a dizzy head.

"Well, I can think of one reason but … I think it's gonna get a little uncomfortable for you." Uh, that didn't sound good at all. I felt a pang of panic rushing up my throat, but I swallowed it quickly. He studied my face, then put down his can and pointed at my demonic arm. "Can I see it?"

He might have noticed that I flinched a little. Last time someone wanted to touch it… it was one of the models from the photo shoot. That memory alone made me snarl. Dante raised a brow on that. Yeah, I should focus on this actual conversation.

"Sure," the response left my lips as a shaky breath as I stretched out my arm towards him.

"Is it okay, kid? Answer honestly." Dante didn't move a muscle, his icy blue eyes boring into mine.

"Just take a look at it, damn." There was no way I could stop the blush that crept on my face, so I turned my gaze away to scratch my nose with my human arm. "M'kay Nero, relax." Dante freed his hands from his gloves and took my hand in his, gently brushing over my talons with his thumb, then opening my palm and running his finger over the ribbed blue skin of my palm to the hide. A tiny shiver ran down my spine, forcing a barely audible groan from me. I could only hope he didn't hear it, but I was too close to him for that.

Dante immediately looked up, seeming to be brooding about something, but his eyes were focused on me. Somehow, he was lost in his thoughts as he regarded my arm again, reacting to my small flinching moves. He turned my bringer to the side, slowly moving upward with the tips of his fingers.

His skin felt entirely different against my demonic arm than any other that had eve touched it before, including my own. It was some kind of melting sensation and the reason behind it was still a question, but I liked it nevertheless. I could feel the little goose bumps on the blue skin making me shiver lightly. I felt embarrassed just a bit. It felt as if my bringer was hundred times more sensitive, responding to every tiny touch of Dante's fingers against it. As Dante touched it, I could feel a bundle of nerves in the back of my head flaring up, making me shiver and it honestly weirded me out at the moment.

But that didn't stop Dante at all, he went up all the way on my right arm, just where the skin began to change back to my own, and shit that part was very sensitive. I shivered again, now forcing my teeth to bite my mouth from the inside so I could keep myself silent for a while. God, his hands felts so fucking good against my skin, it started to turn me on ridiculously.

I was easily disoriented by Dante's hands on my arm. Hell, I never thought this could be an issue for me, and when he noticed that, my bringer lit up like a neon sign. Sadly, he let go of my arm to my biggest disappointment.

"I guess you might have figured it out, but this thing reflects your mood."

"No shit." I barked a reply, clinging to my inhuman arm with my normal one, trying to ease off that stirring feeling Dante caused on my skin. He just chuckled at my reaction, taking up his beer again.

Holyfuckingshit.

Here I am, sitting opposite of this guy and he just like, managed to find almost every non-covered sensitive spot on me already? Now that's something new.

He gave me a mischievous look. "I'll look around in my books for you but honestly I think your demon side is just unsatisfied. Well, at least not it's not the worst scenario. But it can be smelled from a mile, just so you know."

"Yeah, thanks… Wait, you can feel that?" Again, my face took up a red color but I had no time to hide it because Dante grabbed both of my hands again, interlacing our fingers. To my biggest surprise, this time I didn't flinch away immediately, the gesture was… natural? Okay, what the fuck is going on now.

"You should definitely do something about that. Looks like singing and writing were its way to find pleasure, now it demands more." As our eyes met again it told me a lot of things, he was waiting for me to take a step. First of all, I was still mildly aroused, second and most importantly I was now currently leaning towards him, until our lips met and the gap closed between us.

_Dante's POV_

I knew I gave him direct signs but this actually turned out better than I originally thought. Despite how fucked up this evening started, now it was on the way to be perfect.

There was one thing that bothered me about Nero after Fortuna. The possible outcomes. There he was, on an isolated island as a member of some kind of occult church that worshiped pop's doing and whatnot, but most importantly he'd been the obnoxiously black sheep of the town. I watched him slicing demons into salad not so far away from my destination, The Fortuna Opera house. He had caught my eyes. I mean, it's really rare to see silvery white hair that resembled) my own. The only person who had similar so far was Verge. But he's not a subject of anything anymore.

And his fighting technique? Damn, he was no new to this at all, grabbing one of the monster's arm and slicing the others with it while managed to get out of the whole thing without a scratch. I was curious about who he was, so meeting him at the Opera House was a surprise and a joy. By the way, I didn't do the talk. I wanted to get to know him by his moves, so I made him use all of his tricks: the double barrel gun, the flashy sword with the engine in it, and his special move, the demonic arm. He was still careful with it – but that didn't stop him to pummel me into the marble ground, which hurt a bit – he might even fear his newly gain power.

Since the girl who he tried to save shouted his name once or twice I got to know that he's Nero. What an interesting name, ain't it? But I had to leave the fella to get on his own tracks, my mission wasn't about him. The outcome on the other hand changed everything.

Here's my point: I don't get attached to anyone. Trish and Lady are fine; they've been in my boat for a long time now, but this kid… Surprisingly he was distracting my mind for a while and it bothered me a lot how I left him back then – but I might say it was an outstanding decision. After one year, meeting him _almost_ randomly on that concert had changed everything. Even if Trish scolded me about not doing anything to keep in touch with the kid… he didn't move on. It felt as a pure relief that he didn't. I was halfheartedly worried that he got together with that girl, not that I know much about her personality, but it was obvious that the boy is more than that. And he is, hell yeah.

And the result was unexpectedly sweet. I don't think he could read my expression from that far away, but honestly, I got what he meant. Every single part of it, even if he wasn't sure about what it all meant.

The way he performed… He sounded desperate, yet stayed intriguing, mischievous and definitely sexy. I'm not a huge fan of all this putting up for the media thing but Nero did an excellent job with that, he wrapped the entire audience – including me – around his vicious talons. Yet, one of his songs had a different ring to the whole aura of the scenery.

That ballad, right. That actually warned me that he's not in love, at least not yet. But he demands to find that one part that could fill the "emptiness" in him and that was both adorable and something entirely different from him. Nero surprised me again and again, with his physical and mental strength, with his confidence and the surprisingly familiar acquaintances. Nero was on his journey to finding a refreshing sensation for himself which is perfectly understandable, I mean, he's still a youngster who's looking for his place in this messy world, and I was eager to help.

I had wondered if he's still clinging to that girl but as the night went on his whole presence screamed "wild and free", literally. I remembered that two weeks ago Trish nudged my shoulder with a smirk, making my skin crawl when she found out that Nero is in Capulet.

Oh, and it did turn worse yesterday. She came into the office all happy and cheering and I knew it was a bad sign. She tossed one of her favored magazines on my table and holy shit. That was Nero on the cover in nothing but underwear with a half covered girl clinging to his back. I instantly wanted to tear away the chick from there. Damn, this was getting ridiculous. Of course Trish immediately got the opportunity to tease me. She sat on the edge of my desk, talking about "My Nero" instead of just calling him normally.

"Look, _your_ Nero is doing a humanitarian thing and showing off with his body in the mags. My, isn't he just sweet, Dante?" Those were her words.

It was annoying that she was on my tail again with this and also she told me I should go and meet him but I decided it would be better to be off to clean my mind, so I took a job what was in hand. Did I mention that while she was in The Order as Gloria, she gathered too much information about Nero which she liked to tell me every time she had an opportunity? Nero likes this, Nero did that… She almost made me extremely annoyed about hearing his name, but on the inside, just enough deep so her she-devil powers would keep out from me, I adored Nero. The fire in his eyes, the big eyelashes he had, that smirk he sported during our fights, those long legs and his creamy skin… I found myself thinking and occasionally fantasizing about him more than I should have. I don't know it was Trish's nagging that got me more into him, but deep down I was actually thankful for her that she didn't let me get him outta my mind. But she's never gonna hear that, I bet she knows, I mean, she's no human after all.

Anyhow, she was the one who snagged me a ticket and expected I'll go to see the little brat Nero. Well_, times change._

Now there was an incredibly attractive and seductive brat swinging around a pole in front of hundreds of people. And that didn't sound so comfortable anymore, nor did my pants. I almost thought he's out of my reach. But I wanted to go and meet him; it was only pure luck that I found an old friend over the bar. Anyhow, I was musing about going for it, I mean, going for him, because the vibe my devil side gave me washed me over like a mini orgasm or something. Even if I was anxious about our different lifestyles, it didn't took him long to catch up with me.

And damn, it was frustrating. I don't know what he was thinking about that night though. Contrary to him, I remember that night very well. Nero is an energy bomb, he likes to have fun, to dance and to express himself in every way that's good for him. It was damn hot when he did it by moving his hips. At some point of the night he consumed a little too much alcohol, and he started to flirt, mostly with me, but he also gave some pretty suggestive lines to that other guy, Matt.

Now that was a pain in the ass. That guy was bossy for no reason, and had an incredibly big mouth for nothing. Maybe he himself wasn't annoying me that much but the stunt he obviously enjoyed doing with Nero was enough to make me want to send him through hell. And he liked to brag about it. Nero's friends tried to calm him down but he just kept on talking – to me ironically – about how good working with Nero was. I kept telling myself to keep my cool, that little punk usually wouldn't be enough to get on my nerves, but when he was talking to Nero in an unnervingly suggestive manner I almost snapped.

I was honestly thankful when one of the girls found me because she thought it's time to bring Nero home – it was too much for that night. She was helpful, at least sober as far as I could tell; she helped me drag the kid out of there, finally. He snuggled up to me in the car as she drove us to Nero's place. Ah, and the things Nero said on our way back, damn he talked dirty. I felt a little bit bad for the girl but I honestly couldn't stop enjoying the little things Nero did, such as playing with my hair, tugging on my shirt's collar, whispering naughty things into my ear … He set fire to all of my nerves with his presence. When we got to his surprisingly expensive looking apartment, the girl wrote something to him and left, leaving me to help him to bed. She didn't ask too much and that was a surprise. All that I knew about her that she's Nero's friend, hates alcohol and her name was Meagan.

I wonder if she's often dragging Nero home like this, with someone… _No_, definitely not going to think about it now.

Telling the drunken version of Nero to go to bed was like setting a gas station on fire. Bad idea. He got pissed suddenly, maybe he thought I was trying to patronize him, but no, it was friendly advice that if he got soaked and was barely able to walk he should go the fuck to sleep. Of course, Nero wanted it differently, he clung to me like a koala bear, which was funny and absolutely adorable, and wanted me to drag him to bed, in a different way. It was pretty hard to keep myself from just fucking him right there. Now that I think of it was a good thing that I didn't.

But anyhow I went along with his play then when I told him to go to sleep he snapped and slashed my shirt – my favorite one! – and decided it was a good idea to punch me. He didn't knock me out, I just pretended to pass out so I could wait until he went to bed by himself so I could leave… but that was only wish of mine. He threw off his shirt, grunted something and covered himself with a blanket. I waited until I could hear him snoring, then I decided it's time to take my leave but Nero grabbed my left hand with his demonic grip and used me as a teddy bear to snuggle up next to me.

That I found utterly adorable, he was so lost in his dreams. I adored his features for a while, turning to my side next to him and watching him sleep. It might have been creepy but Nero was so peaceful with that almost angelic expression on his face, his rosy lips curled up in a half smile as he was slowly breathing. He also he had that cute blush on his cheeks that he sported all night. Nero blushed a lot – it always gave away his thoughts, and it was an extremely cute feature of him.

I wasn't exactly sure what has gotten into me, but both I and my demon side agreed that we could definitely get used to this sight every night, or even better. I knew things going to end like that between us sooner or later.

Thankfully it happened sooner.

So now we're… Yeah, he's right now yanking my head closer by my scalp, trying to win the dominance over our kiss, damn, he's trying so hard but there's no way I'd let him take advantage of me. Enough brooding.

I showed him back a little, only to assert that I'm not going to let him win and to take a small breath to descend again, now with full concentration. I licked his lower lip and Nero moaned into my mouth, letting me get lucky and I pushed him into the back of the sofa, sliding my hands behind his hips and pulling him closer, deepening the kiss.

His hands tangled into my hair, I was so mad with the sensations, my heart was beating like crazy and my lungs missed air as if I was underwater, so did his. Nero reciprocated the kiss, rubbing his tongue against mine lustfully. Damn, I could feel he was aroused. I chuckled to myself, looking into his eyes. His glare was flaring with lust but he looked annoyed that I stopped, so in response I slid my hands up his thighs right to his crotch, finding his clothed arousal. Nero growled and pulled me into another kiss, trying to dominate again but failing miserably when my hands got rid of his belt and let his pants get loose.

_Nero's POV_

Holy shit. I… I'm an idiot for not doing this way before, like right after meeting with him again. Okay, that might have been a little bit sudden and… now that I think of it– No, I'm not going to start complicating; I'm focusing on this right now.

But hot damn Dante kissed so well. So how exactly did he get me into this so easily? Okay, maybe first there was that scent of his … Then my arm.. Well shit. This was really happening, I wanted this, I kissed him on my own will, right? And then he found his way into my pants… On the other hand tough – No, I don't need my morals right now. But how was that "Not a one night stand" part exactly Nero? Maybe I should think this over rationally, not totally turned on.

Great, just the moment I started enjoying this making out thing with him my brain started to work up to this. God fucking damn it.

"Wait a second, this is… stop." I muttered, just barely audible but I was glad it got to his ears, because he slowly let me go, well still holding me by my hips, but yeah, I had air in my lungs again.

"Why?" His questioning gaze was just a friendly reminder how handsome he was actually.

"Because," I tore my gaze away from him, trying to fight off my blushing, "I don't want to be just a quick fuck to you." I kinda felt bad for saying it like this but my words were slightly limited in my condition.

"Ah," he sighed dramatically, but a grin made its way to his face, "What makes you think you are?"

"Because this is kind of sudden, don't you think?" I said a little puzzled. "I mean… right now my dick is leading me instead of my brain."

Dante laughed and it made me feel slightly embarrassed. His right hand came up to hold my face, tracing small circles on my cheek. Okay, that was calming my heart down a little.

"You're sweet for worrying Nero, but…" He kissed my lips slowly but somehow reassuringly, then he stopped for a second and spoke again, "Can you hear that?"

I was startled for a second, all I could hear is my and his heart beating erratically.

"No? What should I hear?" I frowned.

"Do you hear whining? Do you feel that stirring?"

"Nah." And it hit me. My demon side was calm and slowly purring in delight.

"See?" He looked at me knowingly, let me go and stood up, leaving me sitting on the couch with my confusion and now beginning to get annoying arousal. "This is what you've been craving and actually, it applies to me too."

"You mean to tell me I should get laid to get rid of this stupid whining in the back of my head?" I snarled, well not at Dante but at myself.

"Now you're just killing the mood, damn it," he chuckled and gave me a hand to get up from the couch. After all, it was pretty messy and half of it was still coated with Lady's blood, so I understood he didn't want to end up making out there. I accepted his hand and got up, my knees were sorta trembling.

"What do you me–" But Dante cut me off, swinging me into his arms, his hands wandered over my backside as he kissed me to put my blabbering out.

"You've gotta be kidding me, kid," he laughed, "You sang all those things and then you give me this 'oh I'm not gonna fall into your bed' thing? Really?" He looked into my eyes, his gaze piercing. "You think it didn't hit me immediately? Just how stupid do you think I am?"

"Well, so far I know you can be a jerk sometimes, old man." I rested my chin on his shoulder, not bothering to escape from his embrace. Besides, he smelled really good and I was eagerly nuzzling his neck, inhaling more of that strawberry and leather scent. It filled my nose and I could feel my heart rate speeding up again.

"Thanks for the compliment, Nero but hey, look at me, you brat," he lifted my chin to meet my gaze. He looked absolutely pleased with himself and that made me angry. This situation was getting out of hand and if something didn't happen soon I might end up tackling him right to – leaving. God, my head is a mess right now.

"What?" I barked at him.

"If you don't want to do this, you know where the door is." Damn, he looked serious for almost a minute.

"Really? You have your chance to get into my pants and you just miss it?" Welp technically…

"Hey, you kissed me first!" He raised his free hand defensively.

"But you got me all worked up by my arm!" This was now just ridiculous.

"Hell knew you got sensitive spots here." And with that he casually decided to end the conversation and kissed my shoulder, freezing me in mid-thought.

So that worked.

Next thing I know he was making his way up to my neck, taking his sweet time kissing every available bit of skin that his lips found and I moaned uncontrollably. Just when I thought things will go south and interesting he grabbed me by my demonic arm and led me upstairs.

_Here goes nothing._

We hungrily shed clothes on that few meters. I almost fell when Dante tried to tug down my jeans, as we dangled towards the bed and fell on it majestically. Damn, he was much better at this, kissing his way down my chest, letting out low growls as he passed my nipples, descending down, licking and biting my navel which made me moan a little louder. I bit my hand to keep it down a little, feeling kind of embarrassed about the noises I just made, but holy shit Dante's hands were all over me and he was teasingly slow but it was fucking good.

When I tried to bite down a groan again, Dante came up to me, removing my hand from my mouth and covering it with his. I reciprocated the kiss; it was tender but still could force me into some kind of submission which made my blood boil even more. Meanwhile his hands wandered over my fully naked body – he got rid of my pants and I didn't even notice it, _damn._

I almost lost it when he started stroking me. My head fell back onto the pillows, my back arching off the bed. Pleasure washed through my body, making me shiver and cling to Dante's shoulders. I kissed him with the half of my mind, biting his lower lip, earning a sweet chuckle from him. I buckled my hips into his hands, earning harder strokes.

Suddenly, he descended down my body, leaving soft kisses all over my chest, curiously pinching my nipples before moving south, his hands massaging my inner thighs.

We weren't doing anything serious, yet I was a writhing mess already. His skin felt like fire on mine, I had goose bumps. I bucked against him eagerly, urging him to take care of the obvious but Dante only smirked, oh God why did he do that? Everything just boiled up my blood, I lost track of time and my sense of direction. Also, it was kind of embarrassing to me to getting all worked up by soft touches and kisses. If I didn't seem desperate before now I definitely did.

After having enough with me tugging on his hair, he wrapped his mouth around the crown of my erection, lazily sucking on it, making my breath hitch in my throat. Dante made his way down the base with a long lick, teasing the vein on the underside, then back to the top, fully taking me in.

Oh god, my toes curled up as I chanted his name between low groans and pants. But he just kept on bobbing his head up and down, and I made the "mistake" of looking down at him. He was studying me attentively with his icy blue eyes. Well, that was a sight to behold, seeing his face flushed, lips slightly bruised and wrapped around my length.

As if on cue he gave the tip another tentative lick, teasing the slit with his tongue. I was getting really close, my breathing became ragged and Dante's movements became faster and rougher. My eyes rolled back in my head and I pulled on his silvery strands, indicating that I'm close to the edge.

Well, hell I was, and Dante kept pleasuring me, the warmth of his mouth felt like pure velvet against my skin. I heard my demon side purr contently and suddenly my release hit me. Some obscenities left my lips and I breathed heavily, my chest falling up and down as I intensely watched Dante swallowing my release.

"A-ah, Dante, holy shit."A shaky moan escaped my mouth as Dante let go of me with a wet 'pop', coming up to me for a kiss, letting me taste myself.

He let me go for a short smile, his lips ghostly brushed against mine then he decided to bite my lover lip and I tasted blood, my instinctive reaction was to bit his lip as well. Our tastes mingled with sweet copper droplets and I felt the voice in the back of my head getting louder and louder. Dante reacted, mercilessly grinding against me, picking up the pace with his hand and matching to his rhythm, reaching his own end soon after.

"Ah fuck, Nero." He breathed. I loved the way he rolled every vowel in my name in a husky voice.

We spent more time with making out. First it was playful and gentle, Dante left small pecks on my lips then the aura changed into passionate again. I loved and savored every small bites and bruises we left on each other's skin. The sounds Dante made when I nibbled on his neck, scraping my talons on his back side made me grin widely, enjoying the soft moans and sharp breathes. I reached down, bringing our cocks together and we both groaned loudly at the contact. His eyes studied my face, never falling out of rhythm, as if I was an interesting painting. Dante kissed me fiercely, eagerly rubbing his tongue against mine, forcing me to submit to him once more.

I tilted my head to the side, giving Dante more access but he left my lips, descending down on my neck as he left kisses and bruises all over me. I was overstimulated with the touches and the mildly distracting but teasingly slow strokes he gave my length.

"Say that you want me," he hotly whispered into my ear. I could not pass that his words where quite familiar. Very funny, old man.

"Got me trippin' super psycho love," I hummed along and then suddenly both of us broke into unstoppable laughter. It took us a few minutes to catch our breath again and I swiped a tear from the corner of my eye. "I can't believe you know the lyrics."

"They're catchy." He pouted, settling down next to me, kissing my forehead and pulling me into his embrace. The sudden affectionate gesture caught me absolutely off guard. Like, a while ago we nearly just – ?

"You could say so." I murmured, still feeling a little flustered. Okay, all I have to do is stop making up things now.

"Working on anything new tho? I've listened to that disk until it got scratched."

I couldn't decide if he was only making silly compliments or being actually serious, either way, I was flattered. "Hah, actually yeah. Remember the song on the party? That was new for example." I replied, playing with his silvery locks with my talons.

"Sounded pretty good," he yawned casually, snuggling closer like a big child before going silent. I didn't mind it at all, it was… something different? The purring in the back of my head was worth every minute with Dante. Oh god, that sounded so awfully corny.

Suddenly, I heard Dante snoring. Yep, the old man might have been way more tired than I originally thought, possibly because of the mission, so he drifted to sleep easily. His arms were haphazardly wrapped over my hips, indicating just enough pressure for me to know I have no chance to slip out from his grip.

So I guess that makes us equal for sleeping together, right?

* * *

/flies out from the closest window possible, lands on cold hard ground and rolls towards the sunset

so I hope you guys like it see you next time


	7. Chip in your head

**AN**: I'd like to quote my dear Poli "I have nothing to say for myself"

Aaaand here we go guys wow this took a while! I'm sorry for the delay, but you know how it is! Summer! Sunshine! Internet! Boiling in your own room like an egg! Isn't summer like super fun!? Anyway, I spent twelve wonderful days with my Poli, wandering around Budapest and such, having funsies! We also went to our first Pride! It was sooooo fun! Alright, I'll stop talking about my life and give you the thing!

Enjoy reading! I'm really thankful for the reviews guys! You're cool keep it SSStylish!

**Shoutout for my wonderful editor, PorcelainPills.**

**Warnings: sex (you know I still believe I don't have to tell this because its M rated but whatever), OCs, some swearwords may occur**

I don't own Devil May Cry. Capcom does, (damn them for ruining my life)

* * *

_Chapter Seven: Chip in your head_

"… even if you've got an attitude," _a familiar voice rang trough my head._

_I chuckled and kissed back, wrapping my legs around Dante's hips, whimpering when he began stretching me. He wanted to distract me and did an extremely good job stroking my length, making me throw my head back into the pillows, exposing my neck to him even more. He took the opportunity, entirely setting my mind off the uncomfortable feeling but it took less than a minute for me to get used to it. Dante was happily nibbling at my throat, his hand moved in an erratic but strong rhythm, altering between teasingly slow and heavenly strong strokes. _

_I glanced down at him and couldn't stop the blush that spread over my cheeks when I noticed his cold glare meeting mine. It was such an erotic view: his hair messy, eyes flaring up with dark lust, making me lick my lips in anticipation. I really was about to get laid. His skin felt chilly against mine, my blood was boiling and his gentle, feathery touches felt like cold water drops on my skin._

_My human hand was buried in his hair, playing with his silver locks, while my demon arm clutched to the back of Dante's neck. My talons dug into his skin when he brushed over something inside me, making me see stars and shiver; my breathing became erratic and heavy._

"Here's how I show my gratitude," _Dante whispered hotly, kissing me again as he removed his fingers, reaching for some lube and propped my legs on his shoulders, folding me half._

_"Stop talking." And to stop him from further lingual response I bit his lip again, now drawing blood. Dante let out an almost feral growl, crushing our lips together even more furiously, and managed to bite me. It was kind of strange to have our tastes mingle but it was definitely sexy. I shuddered at the thought and was eager to get more of the kiss, rubbing my tongue against his. I was absolutely offended when he pulled away, trying to pull Dante down once more but he pushed my hands away. I just realized his hardness was now rubbing against my entrance, making me moan as I let him know I wanted him. _

"Maybe –_" _

_How does this bastard even have the guts to speak? He was a damn tease, playing with the head of my erection with his thumb, swiping off a small bead of pre-cum that had formed there, bringing his fingers to his lips and licking them clean, giving me a show._

"Maybe, maybe," h_e said in a sing-sang voice and my nails dug into his shoulders, earning a hiss, but nothing else. Our gaze met once again, he was absolutely pleased with himself, wearing that trademark smirk that made my blood boil and I was on the verge of landing a few punches if he didn't move soon._

_I barked out a "What" because it was just ridiculous that he wanted me to beg or plead for him. I have more pride than that._

"If you ask me just right,"_ he purred, leaning in again, capturing me in a strong, almost unbreakable lip lock, holding my chin. He knew being soft and nice with the kiss would just heat me up even more. But how did he know? It was frustrating me beyond limits. Just as I thought it couldn't get worse he gave my erection a slow, firm stroke, making me toss my head back, crying out his name._

_Thankfully he gave up at my protests, almost apologetically kissing my forehead before slowly starting to push himself into me. I screwed my eyes shut, my chest raising and falling heavily at the uncomfortable sensation. Dante hushed me, placing small kisses on my cheeks and lips, and while his right arm kept me steady, his right hand wandering down to my erection again, giving me a few pumps. It was so good, so absolutely just... fucking hot. I wanted him to fuck me right there without hesitation but my body protested, my muscles tightening around him. I heard him growl lowly, his eyes locking with mine, but instead of answering I bucked my hips impatiently. It was surprisingly dull and bearable pain and was quickly washed away by pleasure._

"... give it to you all night." _I couldn't quite make out what he just said, but sure, whatever, I don't care, just fucking move already. Dante's hands wandered over my hips, gently squeezing them as he began to move. His thrusts were brutally slow but strong and as I bucked back, he started to speed up. _

_My breathing turned labored and my hands clung to his shoulders just so I could get a better hold of myself and meet his hips with mine with the same force. It felt absolutely fucking awesome. I couldn't even form a coherent thought but my whole body was on fire and the skin on skin contact made me feel comfortable and cherished by him. It was something that never occurred to me._

_Dante licked my neck, biting my skin, leaving a stronger mark than before. He snapped his hips forward, finding that spot that made my voice come out in a high pitch, with his name falling off my lips._

_I arched my back, trying to move so that I could get another forceful thrust at that spot and Dante obliged, enjoying the sounds I wasn't holding back anymore. It was so damn good, my skin tingled and my head became dizzy after another second, feeling as if I would explode in any moment. _

_I don't know it was him or me but damn, at every re-entry I felt even more relaxed, I couldn't control it anymore. I threw my head back and with a piercing cry I came, panting, trying to fill my lungs with air. It didn't take too much for him to follow me, releasing inside me and reaching down with one hand to cup my face, coming down for a sloppy kiss as we rode out our orgasm._

_I heard a sound in the very distance; it was really loud and annoying._

_Dante opened his mouth to say something, but I couldn't hear it. Suddenly my head started to ache and I grunted covering my eyes as if that would ease the sudden pain._

_Then I opened my eyes._

My morning was quite fast – it started with me waking up to a really harsh ring tone. It was my phone, trying to wake up the entire neighborhood. I reached around with a quick motion, trying to find it on the nightstand, but my hand found a bunch of different things instead. Also, the irrationally loud generic music was coming from the other side of the room.

I silently swore at myself for the dream's end. More because it ended. I wouldn't mind to have a morning like that…

About the call though…Can't be that important anyway…

So even before having a mere thought of getting my phone, I decided I'll just stay in bed and ignore everything, secretly hoping that this morning would end like my dream which seemed a much better way to start this day. My hopes were up for the tone stop but it didn't. The melody started again and again, it was absolutely annoying.

Something stirred behind me. I didn't notice the strong grip until Dante reminded me he was actually there. What a coincidence. I wasn't gonna complain anyway. His fingers lazily danced on my skin, the area was a bit ticklish though, making me chuckle.

"Did I wake you up?" I shifted, turning chest to chest while still in his possessive grip.

"Nah, your phone did." Dante's voice was raspy, his face contoured with sheet marks, his trademark smirk was on his face proudly.

I rolled my eyes and groaned, that god damn device was still going.

"I should get it…" But instead of doing so, I snuggled closer to Dante. Everything seemed like in some kind of romantic movie, and oh god forbid the corniness in this, but I did enjoy cuddling with him. His skin against mine felt smooth, his stubble brushing against the side of my neck. This was even more corny than my dream, at least I had a feeling it had a lovey-dovey part. Dante's arms were now holding my hips, his hands wandering down a little and I heard him chuckle as he kissed that sensitive spot on my neck he found last night. Some kind of bubbly and calm feeling settled in my stomach, which was sweet, but made me question the fact whether I was still dreaming or not.

And my phone went off again.

"For… fuck's sake." A shaky breath escaped my lips as Dante nibbled on my skin, leaving small red marks.

"The battery has to die sooner or later; you don't have to answer it." Dante commented, boldly groping my ass, indicating the way where is this all going.

"Yeah but just like you have to hunt demons to live I have to pick that up. It might be Norenat." My gaze wandered up, meeting his and I immediately felt a blush spreading over my cheeks, darn. I scratched my nose to hide it.

"Don't you think she's stepping on your toes a bit?" Dante chuckled, obviously catching a great view of this girlish redness, and kissed my forehead.

"She's supposed to. See, right now I could be skipping my – oh, oh shit." I just realized why my phone was ringing. My schedule for today was a photo shoot and an interview. Though the latter is a live one in some kind of popular talk show I never watch so that's not the case right now. But the photo shoot is. God damn it.

I bet Dante took it for granted when more silent obscenities left my mouth, but for his biggest surprise I squirmed and somehow rolled out from his arms, landing on my feet. Balancing myself again I ran to the phone and meanwhile jumped into my briefs.

The screen didn't look promising. Sixteen missed calls. _Sixteen._

All of them from different and noisy women, Kyrie, Meagan and Norenat. My brain automatically began to create theories about them viciously teaming up against me but I pushed them away, quickly stepping into my pants and picking the phone right away when it began ringing again.

"Nore–" Doing my best to breathe slowly I somehow managed to gather my voice to speak, but a furious voice outraced mine.

"For God's sake, Nero, where the bloody hell have you been?!"

There was an uncomfortable lump in my stomach challenging that bubbly feeling and eventually defeating it like a gladiator's last enemy.

"You are supposed to be at that damned art house, they've been waiting for you for like two hours! They're now harassing me and even after I told them I can't reach you."

She was speaking really fast and loud, I had to put away the phone a few centimeters away just so I could still hear after this awkward conversation.

"I'm uh, on my way." It was a cheap lie and I knew she wasn't gonna buy any of it.

"Even Meagan called you, she went to see if you're home but you didn't respond. Where are you?" Norenat sighed, sounding annoyed but her voice wasn't that loud anymore.

"Err… I went over to a friend." Am I even trying to lie to her properly?

She let out an exhausted sigh. "Alright, does this _friend_ of yours live far away from Crust Lane 67?"

"Nah, that's quite close actually," I heard Dante yawning the answer behind me. God damn it, you old bastard.

"Who was that? Dante?" Norenat yelped.

I lowered my head, now feeling completely defeated. Just… These two I swear!

"Ehr, yeah." Turning back, I shot an annoyed glare at him and finally got my belt together with one hand, looking around for my shirt which was nowhere to be found.

"Listen, be there as fast as you can. I hope you don't forget the meeting and the interview, you'll have to be ther– ," she began but I was silently asking Dante if he had seen my shirt.

Instead of answering he got up, stretching, slowly, just with that teasing slowness he moved on that morning in my apartment. But at least now I was openly comfortable of watching him, staring at his chiseled body as a few rays of light dropped onto his perfect skin, his body that looked like a marble statue… Damn, I wouldn't argue with anybody who says he's a Greek god statue on an exhibition.

Wow, that was absolutely silly sounding, but while regarding him that awfully stupid bubbly thing in my stomach had returned and it was a good thing, I guess.

Dante casually smirked at me, coming closer and putting his hands around my waist, pulling me in to kiss me, not even caring that I had a phone in my hand – which I was now quietly holding down with my thumb so Norenat wouldn't hear anything.

I closed my eyes while we kissed. It was pretty much the same as in my dream: open mouthed, a little sloppy, indicating that both of us were kind of worn out – he didn't know I was all peppered up because of the dream, but that was a different subject.

I put my free hand around his neck, scooting even closer to him, massaging his scalp. I could feel him smile into the kiss in response, and the left corner of my mouth quirked up into a grin. What a passionate slow moment. We just… didn't need words. It happened, we were comfortable with each other, even if we weren't dating or anything, there was some kind of unspoken bonding and it made me feel safe.

"Are you even listening to me, Nero!?" Norenat yelled trough the phone. To my biggest surprise, Dante took the device from my hand and held it to his own ear.

"Yes, he did, he'll be there in ten. _I_ promise." Then, he simply hung up and tossed it onto the bed.

"You did not just –" I was there to protest but I found myself pushed against a wall and my mind quickly forgot about the promise or any kind of duties… at all.

* * *

"So, where have you been?" Meagan asked me when I jumped into her car, uncomfortably shifting in my seat at her curious voice. The photo shoot went smoother than I had expected it to be. We got there in time, Dante driving me there in his car – it was a pretty vehicle. I was considering getting something for myself for a while now since I was kind of bored of everyone driving me around, a man needs his own road companion, right?

"Yeah, we tried visiting you!" Sam crawled forward from the backseat. Her freshly washed hair dangled down from her face, looks like she's growing back the side she had shaved off. She looked at me with a cheerful expression.

"Hey Sam!" I turned back giving her a timid smile as she came closer and hugged me. She's been away since the concert, visiting her family for some important reason. I missed her happy-go-lucky presence on my dance classes and her friendly drop-ins at the studio.

"It's good to see you again." My plans included either changing the subject or not even bringing it up.

"The feeling's the same," she giggled before letting me go and leaning back, resting her hand on Meg's seat. The girls' positions and expecting looks scared me. Those mischievous looks weren't a great sight to behold to any man, especially not for me. These women demanded their answers.

But I shall _not_ give it to them.

"So, how's your family?" I continued, not even trying to pick up what they want to hear.

"They're fine as ever." She smiled. "I'm glad to be back though, as much as I love them, they… grew on me you know? We celebrated my oldest sis' engagement, but my mother kept nagging me when I'll get married. It was annoying!" She jumped back to her seat, huffing in annoyance.

Sam told me a lot about her family – she always dropped bits and bits, not pouring it into my neck like Meg did for example. I was glad for that. From what I could tell, she had a long tale to tell.

Sam loved her family, which was quite large according to the things I've been told: she had an older brother, two older sisters and younger twin sisters, mentioning that her mother had always told everyone how gifted she was with so many children. Sam babbled something about her parents being associated with a local church – and I could agree with her uninterested reaction. I wasn't interested in all that religious barking back in Fortuna either.

But thankfully Sam was now talking about her brother, who appeared to be a chef and was actually fighting with their father. She let out a sigh and told us that the second most important discussion on the family meeting that her brother brought home another man, stating that they'd been together for almost a year now. As much as I wanted to pay attention I still couldn't.

Instead I asked myself: does yesterday and today mean that I'm in a relationship with Dante? Should it mean that? The bubbly feeling returned, happily and hopefully sporting a yes, but my foolishly rational brain just went on and on, most likely missing something. Everything happened so quickly, but were there feelings behind his actions? I was worried enough to ask this question but a small memory answered. I honestly doubt it was only his frustration coming out on me. He had been gentle and absolutely caring, but most importantly, honest. I settled on that we were both complete and surprisingly natural with each other, both on a regular basis and in bed, at least for that short period of time.

When I got out of his car, I walked up to his side to look around for some sign of the said art house, feeling his stare boring into my back and I turned, looked at him in surprise.

"What are you – oh." I raised my hand with a painful expression and he nodded. "Interview, right?"

"Sorry." It was kind of awkward actually, was I supposed to lean in and give him a kiss or something? Would that have been too corny and theatrical?

Yes, definitely. Also, my plans didn't include walking into a vicious fan or a paparazzo thus getting both of us into trouble. I'm pretty sure Dante wouldn't have liked that, being a chill person himself.

"How about we go out tomorrow? I have a feeling you could use some practice with weaponry," he chuckled, ice blue eyes looking up at me with interest.

"Sure." I sported a cocky smile and began to walk up to my building. "See ya." I gave him a similar hand sign he gave me before leaving me in Fortuna. That'd serve him right.

In the meantime we hit the road, and the girls quickly lost interest in me as I drifted off from the conversation. So now Meagan was driving me back to my apartment where I could change and grab my stuff. The guys quickly got together a dance practice just for Sam's sake and she was beyond happy when Meagan announced it. I was quick as usual, getting my bag and such, hopping back to the car and we were ready to go. The girls discussed something about Meg's wedding but I found myself lost in my thoughts again.

First of all, I haven't called Kyrie back yet, and that was something I had to do soon. Lately I had so little time, barely even enough for me to catch up with her. Last time we had a peaceful moment to talk was probably a bit more than a month ago. I wrote emails to her regularly but she insisted on meeting me, mostly because her choir is now on summer vacation so she had free days.

Kyrie even wanted to see my next concert and it was such a nice thing of her. When we parted months ago I was worried we might slip away from that comfortable friendship we established now, but quite the contrary happened. This reminds me though that I still haven't told her about Dante… but should I? I mean, yeah mentioning that we met did sound alright but anything further? No, that'll be fine when we sort it out between ourselves. If we do.

Because that's inevitable, right? I wonder what's going on in his mind, does his brain run the same circles as mine does? Maybe a few less, but might be. Sighing, I turned my attention back to the girls' happy chit-chat.

* * *

"Hey, look what the cat dragged in."

Matt turned away from the TV they were fixing up with Tyler when I stepped into the brightly lit room where loud music was resonating in the air.

"Well, it's been a while," I replied, approaching the boys, greeting them happily.

"What are you working on, boys?" Raising a brow, Meagan tossed her towel right next to the others and put her left leg on one of the unoccupied bars along the wall, slowly stretching her muscles.

"No need to hurry with that." Tyler smiled, looking around for the others who were eagerly gathering around us. Andrew and Zane greeted us instantly, offering us fresh drinks. What are they up to? Matt usually coordinates the whole session, making everyone follow him, but now even he seemed distressed. And what's that white thing beeping under the TV?

"Is that mine?" Sam stood next to me, folding her arms in front of her chest, suspiciously eying the boys who were trying to figure out where to put a CD into that thing. I honestly forgot the device's name.

"Might be." Matt gave her a sinister smile. He might have spent some time on the beach because he had a nice tan. Besides that, he looked absolutely pleased with himself which was no good sign. "Also, your dog is missing you a lot; it was fun taking care of her." Matt reached out to mess up the reddish hair of the smaller girl. Hm, I think Matt mentioned that he and Sam live in the same apartment complex, above each other or something?

"At least she's fine." Sam huffed like an angry puppy, still being a bit annoyed about what the leader just did. The red haired girl also seemed bewildered about what her beloved gaming console was doing here. But Matt's smile just grew wider every second, the two pair of differently toned green eyes staring into each other. Eventually Sam gave up with a snort and tore her gaze away, a light blush on her cheeks. They're confusing, they always claw each other's faces off yet they talk like an old married couple. Anyway. I liked the idea of a not too rough session today. I felt all messed up thanks to what happened.

"Hey Sam!" Andrew came around us, grabbing her by the waist, lifting her into a bear-hug. We all watched the two laugh and mess around while Sam tried to get out of his grip; the brown haired guy easily spun her around, placing her back onto her feet elegantly.

"I missed you too, _Andy._" She rolled her eyes but couldn't suppress the little smile on her pouty lips. These two have slowly but surely getting close to each other, which made the whole team somehow excited, as they were heavily rooting for them. "My mom sends her regards, wouldn't mind if you could join us on my sis's wedding." Sam chirped, turning away to dangle towards the TV and take a look at the device Tyler was having a hard time with.

"Sure." Andrew seemed extremely pleased with himself. He was that kind of guy who spent a bit too much time in his own world, more an introvert than the rest of us. It was rare when he actually came along to a party or to any event, most of the time it was someone dragging him along (by someone I mean Sam - and Zane at some occasions).

Although he was more of a silent type, when it came to dancing … Man, it was a whole different person dancing in his flesh. I was fine with both "personas" but often, Andrew was the one suggesting the setting himself. His specialty was lifting the girls – though once he even managed to lift Matt but that was just because they weren't quite themselves due to some good quality liquor. I didn't really expect him to be able to handle lifts and hold-ups that easily, I clearly underestimated him because of his boy-next-door attitude.

"What's up with weddings these days," Matt huffed. I just noticed his quick mood change to the mentioning of Sam's family changes.

"They're being popular amongst straight people." Tyler brushed aside some of his blonde locks, revealing a sour grin on his face.

What's up with _everyone_ today?

"Isn't it legal like two states away?" Meagan looked up from stretching. She is the type who likes to get into everything after preparing precisely.

"Then hand me the bouquet on your wedding, will ya?" Tyler laughed, finally settling the mood back to the normal.

"You're getting married?" Zane interrupted, exchanging confused looks with Matt.

"Of course not," the blonde man laughed, "I just love lilies and roses –" He raised a hand to stop Meagan who looked ready to differ "I know you're going to chose those, Jake is allergic to orchids."

I never heard Tyler being this protective; he usually spoke a few words about his family, mostly about his brother, Jake.

"_Dio, _I should hire you to help with the wedding." She smiled, hooking an arm over the shoulder of her soon-to-be brother-in-law.

"Nobody said I wouldn't help." Tyler smiled back, then untangling himself from the embrace when the TV turned on and we heard a faint melody.

"It works!" the guys shouted, circling around the screen like cavemen who just invented fire. Minutes later, Matt and Zane set up Sam's favorite dancing game and the showdown began. Grown men started to battle each other in 'Staying Alive', 'Dancing Queen' and 'Hot'n'Cold' like a group of children, getting their asses kicked by Sam, who seemed to be the master of this game.

I took my place next to a wall, not really feeling like interfering with their fun, but in the minute I was just ready to sink back into the cushions, Sam grabbed my right wrist, handing me a controller and with a quick motion the game was on. Kind of startled me that she grabbed my devil arm so easily… as if it was just normal skin. I always appreciated how the guys brushed off the fact that I have this… thing as my arm. Actually they liked it and sometimes asked me if I could do specific things – still didn't treat me like a fair monkey, so it was alright.

"You sure wanna do this, Sammy?" I smirked, waiting for the song to start; the neon figure at the screen was just playing the prelude of the silly pop song she chose.

"I'm not here to be defeated by your supernatural ass," she chuckled, moving along as the song itself started not falling out of rhythm. Sam was pretty hard to follow but I could actually catch up with the song. It was some sort of a cover of her favorite song from the disco era, but she seemed to be just a tad bit slower than me around the middle.

I liked being competitive, I waved the controller as the neon figure on the screen instructed me to, earning literally awesome grades on my moves. I didn't even notice I was breathing a bit harder as I focused on the moves. This was just like fighting, really. If you know the move set or see the person in front of you, it's easy to follow it up quickly. However, the dancing neon man doesn't have to be taken down violently, but as the end approached I felt quite victorious.

"Well, you're better than I remembered." Sam let out an exhausted breath, looking at me with a wide smile.

"I told you, didn't I?" I got the safety string off my wrist and handed the controller to Matt who was eager to take my place and challenge Sam again… with no luck for sure.

I stretched my arms a bit, turning back to watch the others when suddenly Meg bumped into me, giving me a quick smile and she started chirping already.

"So you gave back his coat, right?" I already saw this coming.

"Sure." Letting out an exhausted sigh, I prepared myself for more questions.

"You know I don't want to dig into your personal life …" She rested her head on my left shoulder, looking up with her shiny green eyes. "I just truly hope you'll be happy and loved."

"Are you drunk?" I raised an eyebrow at her sudden mood swing.

"No, just I've been wrapping my head around the fact that I'm getting married and … You know, it's like a second growing up." She sounded really serious about this, though she was still eying the others with a little smirk. "And yeah, who will get your ass out when you're deep in the songwriting progress or teach you how to cook so you don't set the easiest omelet on fire?"

"You're just getting married, you won't like… give up your life and go to a nunnery." I laughed because I remembered that one time when that happened… It wasn't too pretty though.

"Ahh Nero!" She laughed, punching me in the arm slightly "I meant that now I will have more responsibilities and maybe sooner or later a family and having someone by your side is awesome, so I want you to experience that."

She looked up at me again like a delightful mother. She was on something I swear; this is not her normal behavior. There is something going on that makes her happy but I don't know what it could be.

"So… you want me to get married?"

She let out a grunt at my clueless expression but when I couldn't hold back a smug grin she punched my arm with a bit force for teasing her. "You're the worst, damn you."

We laughed it off and turned our attention back to the others for a bit. Sam and Matt were dancing to something really intense and the guys started to cheer around them. "Ridiculous." Meg said after a while humming observably.

"What?" I raised a brow on that, not taking my eyes off from the smaller girl's bright smile as she sang along the song she was beating Matt in.

"Never mind." Then Meagan turned her attention back to me. "Anyway, I wanted to ask you how far you got with him?" She wiggled her eyebrows I swear that's the lamest and most embarrassing thing she does.

"What exactly are you trying to get here?" I choked out some words after collecting them in my mind.

"Is heeee your boyfrieeeeend?" She clung to my arm like a koala and spoke in a sing-sang voice maybe just a bit louder than she should have.

"Who's Nero's boyfriend?" Tyler lined up next to Meagan, grinning like a child.

"BOYfriend?" Sam turned around with an inelegant move and she almost tripped over her own feet, leaving the game she just won and dangling towards me. "_Maaan,_ I totally thought you were straight! Didn't you have like a girlfriend… Kyrie? What happened to her?"

"Why do all of you assume that I have a girlfriend? Come on, guys!" Snapping out on Sam wasn't really on my priority list but the sudden crowd around me made me a bit flustered.

"Because Nero, just to enlighten you, you have this adorable charm on you." Meagan smiled, twirling a little piece of her hair between her fingers, looking like a little kid.

"Sam, didn't you listen to the songs you've been practicing in the last months? Or saw the stage performance?" Tyler gently patted the said girl's hair. "Chipmunk, what's messing your head up lately?"

When we met, Tyler told me about that really back then, when they were just beginning to do dance for a living and such things, they sat down on a friendly meet-up and gave each other nicknames. Each of them had their own. Sam was always on top, she took care of everyone, talked to everyone and liked to participate in almost everything, so Matt gave her the nickname 'Chipmunk' after a movie with similar animated animals.

In response, she called him 'Boss', which was accurate. The others had fitting ones too, Meagan was 'Ballerina' obviously after her knowledge in said dance, they often referred to Tyler as "Dr" or I even heard "Further". It was some kind of reference I didn't understand, to be honest. Zane – as it was later revealed to me – was a great swimmer, it was his passion before dancing, but he got sick and quit but he was still called 'Merman' by the others, and lastly Andrew who was someone who had never really grown up and was utterly athletic was named 'Peter Pan'.

Eventually they _tried _to come up with some silly name for me but they ended up arguing on it and gave up when it turned into something really silly.

"Nothing!" Sam lowered her gaze, still didn't want to look up to me and that saddened me. "I just… uh. Didn't want to point it out. I pretty much thought it's not true so… and wouldn't want to hurt or offend Nero in any way." She looked like a puppy that just got scolded.

"Hey, it's okay Sam." I waved it off, giving her a light smile when she looked up eagerly. "Anyway, before any of you start to make up theories, especially you, woman – "I pointed at Meagan next to me who looked scandalized, but still couldn't shut down that malicious grin. "It's not really a thing yet." I let it out finally.

They gave me a loud 'Boo'. Then everyone except Meagan, Sam and Tyler returned to their game. Said trio tried to get things out of me the entire afternoon but I wasn't working along with their ways so eventually they had to give up. I was really grateful for that.

When the clock passed five, we all packed up and said our goodbyes. I got a big bunch of good wishes from the guys for the interview later at night and as the time lumped closer to that one or two hour thing my head was beginning to ache harder and harder. Matt took Sam home, so I had to only share my way to home with Meg who seemed really jolly by the other girl's decision and she refused to tell me why. For now, she said.

The next thing I remember was running around in my apartment to get some food then leaving eagerly for a last meeting before I had my first live interview. My head was so messed up by now and only in the taxi did I realize that I have to come up with answers for some of the questions and they will be most likely centered around my relationships and such.

Oh, this is going to go really well.

On my way to the studio I texted Kyrie, she wanted to know about when I will be on air, so she could enjoy this interestingly looking conversation. I'm really curious how will she react... And I had a hunch that I shouldn't really babble about Dante too much.

Man, my head was pounding. My mind was running circles in my head, compensating and weighing all the things I've been just told. Having someone by my side, huh? It sounds… alien?

Like, back then I faintly thought of Kyrie being by my side like that before I decided it wasn't anything romantic at all. But yeah, at some point I wouldn't have minded a partner. An equal? And not to be sound a douche but Kyrie is a bit too fragile for my own preferences... Does that mean that deep down I considered Dante though?

I was going mad over that simple thing Meagan planted in my head… as if she put a chip in my head or something.

* * *

_Later that night_

_Dante's POV_

I don't exactly remember the last time I sat down in front of the TV and was actually interested in anything going on.

So about twenty minutes ago, Trish had dropped in with a box of pizza and a few cans of beer, calling it an "observation" and sat down in front of the screen, turning the TV on just to catch the teasers for tonight's special. I knew the kiddo had an interview today, but for some reason I thought about something life for some papers or that kind of stuff, not like, live and such. So I picked myself a seat next to Trish who said nothing and just devoured a slice of pizza with a playful smirk and handed me a beer.

Oh, this will go really well.

_"…So tonight's going be no other than that, but this time, we're breaking hearts, ladies and gents. Please welcome a serious 8Bit-Heart breaker, Nero Angelo." _The woman stood up from her chair while the crowd went crazy, screaming and turning to the door in the back, where Nero showed up. Contrary to the casually dressed, short black-haired, middle aged woman, he looked elegant; wearing a white button up shirt, a navy jacket tucked up to his elbows and black jeans. His hair was slightly spiked up, and his skin seemed much pure than it usually is.

I glanced at Trish. Hopefully she didn't notice that my breath caught in my throat for a second.

_"Thank you Liz, good to be here with you tonight."_ Nero sported an adorable grin, stopping from his stroll next to the woman, shaking her hands eagerly. The studio had green furniture and the whole setting looked modern with a hint of vintage decoration to it. They sat down, Nero with woman opposite to him. She had her legs crossed, holding a few cards in her lap leaning back in her seat.

_"Before we start I want to congratulate on your soon to be platinum album." _

The crowd began to cheer and clap at that announcement_. _

_"As we're speaking 8Bit heart reached almost one million and seven hundred thousand sold albums. With this number you're close to multi-platinum, how does that feel?"_ She eyed Nero's outfit, reaching out to pick on his collar, which made the boy stir suddenly.

_"Feels like a long, really long road. And honestly, I don't see the end of it yet, so all I can say that I'm really thankful for my fan base for spreading my songs like wildfire and... it's safe to say that they should expect more." _I've noticed that every time this kid smiles the room gets at least three times happier.

_"They call themselves 'Robots', did you know that?"_ Liz slightly poked his shoulder in a playful manner.

_"That's actually really cool, go Robots!_" The massive crowd began cheering, some even screaming and that was when the others joined and it became one big frantic scream. Didn't know the kid had _this_ amount of charm._ "Looks like we… Looks like our crowd went a little insane on that. Seriously? They're my crowd, get your own!"_

_"Will do, I'm sorry."_Nero cleared his throat and continued smiling widely, glancing up at the audience again, and his shiny hair falling over his face making him look playful. I didn't blame anyone for admiring him. Tall, slim, almost toned figure with long legs and despite having such delicate features he kept his athletic form, causing more eyes to stop on him.

He was aware of his alluring features and used them very well when it came to playing the seducing role on the stage. He had been a little punk in Fortuna and it was good to see that nothing changed, quite the contrary, it cooked into his persona.

The night when I saw him again… I wanted to toss into him into the sheets and teach him how to use his vocal chords in an entirely different manner. First thing I realized was that he has a long range, coming from all the way down from his normal voice into these high pitches, even moans.

I so lost my cool when he included moans into his songs. Can't say I didn't play with the thought itself, fucking him into the mattress until he just rasps out my name like a mantra in complete ecstasy and joy, his voice strolling up and down with each moment. Seeing that pleasure-lit blue pair of eyes that roll back into his head, his full lips parting for a plea… I'm getting carried away now don't I?

_"Anyway, how are you Nero? How was your first two weeks after the first concert of 8Bit Heart?"_

_"It was absolutely well spent, I had plenty things to do."_ A smug little grin passed his face as Nero got even more comfy in his seat, he was tracing his neck with one of his talons absentmindedly. I watched the movement intently, getting a small glimpse of his collarbone before it was hidden by fabric again.

_"Yeah, we all know it was."_ The woman turned around a little because there was a huge screen behind them showing some pictures of Nero stretched out on white sheets, raising his legs so that specific parts of him would be hidden… Damn. He was smugly grinning at the camera on the photo, I even noticed that his tongue was darting out between his lips.

Well god damn. Now I felt absolutely scandalized. Also wow… he wasn't afraid to show skin and that's sexy.

The crowd started cooing like bunch of happy pigeons again, making Nero blush heavily, and however looking ridiculously confident with himself. The boy crossed his legs and turned back so he could catch a glimpse of the photos going on the screen.

Some sort of instinct might have kicked in, because I felt as if he was teasing me. That sounded awfully jealous. I let out a grunt and glanced at Trish. I found her in a bit shock, chewing the cheese off from her slice really slowly as if she was frozen and had only one autonomic movement.

_"You did some ah, how would you say, charity work, hm?"_ Liz positioned herself facing back to the audience, whistling approvingly on the presented pictures.

_"Could be put like that. You guys got the photos pretty fast."_

Does that mean he went to this photo shoot today? Makes me wonder that if we establish a relationship, can I actually go to these with him? Man, there are so many opportunities in that… Sweet.

_"You see, Nero –" _The female fans of his were still jumping in their seats and squealing it became sort of horrifying, but after a few minutes it finally died down. That saved me from a visit at the hospital.

_"You see, Nero, since your first debut concert you've been on a roll. I mean, the concert had such a huge shockwave to it, even if it was held in such a small club, and I heard you're planning big this time."_

_"Yes, my next concert will probably be in something that can hold up a couple thousand people."_ Some kind of devilish fire lit up in his eyes and he looked really enthusiastic about it.

_"And will that be different than performing to ah, such smaller audience? Does your team have to get special trainings, any changes in certain parts or it will be just like the same type of performance, maybe spiced up a bit now that you have more space?" _The host seemed a bit more fired up thanks to the short answers she got so far and her voice was picking up the pace as she spoke. I didn't like it, not even the way she waved her hands around, looking like a miserable jellyfish.

_"Definitely, I've been consulting my agency for a while now and they might hire several people for my team just so we can extend it a bit." _Nero made some kind of sarcastic mimic movement which made the lady put her hands down, looking embarrassed.

_"So when several months ago you turned up to the public you released the first teaser-track, the ballad, right? After that the video for it had three million views, then you gave out the album itself which set you up on your way in such a short period of time it was almost a record holder. And since that... was it April or May?"_

_"May, Liz."_ Nero corrected.

_"Right, so, since that your songs are all chart winners in radios the whole - how would you say robotic energy just leaped into the knowledge, the brains of people and you seem to touch them a good way, does that affect you in some way?"_

_"It does, then it doesn't."_ He stopped for a moment, collecting his thoughts, biting his lip._ "My shortened bio is all up on my site so you know, I had to move, I came to Capulet, changed my life and fit in and since that... I'm on fire and there's no stop on my train. But sometimes I do have to take a break and I realize what have I became. It's a huge responsibility, having millions of people waiting, expecting for what you will present to them its stressful, but the moment you see that you earn their happiness, its worth all the blood sweating hours in the studio."_

_"And it doesn't, like, lose the magic?"_ The host turned toward him, slowly patting his arm.

_"To me, it doesn't. It's all about passion and my unstoppable love for music. It keeps me going, motivates me, my friends, family, fans, all of them." _Nero answered with eager movements and he also picked up grinning again._ "I have more energy than you could imagine. I don't like staying at home for too long, except when I'm really stuck on a song or a tune, then I can spend days at my piano, focusing. Other than that… My friends come over a lot, or I visit them, we go out to get some drinks and other things like that. So I tend to keep life up around me."_

_"Looks like you got a great circle around you, but what about outside of it? Are you single?"_ I heard several whistles from the crowd but my attention clicked in, I was curious about his answer.

_"Hmm, I wouldn't really say so." _After a minute of silence, the kid rolled his eyes, a wide smile sliding onto his full lips and he repositioned himself in his seat, placing his elbow on the side of the sofa and resting his jaw on it.

However the host didn't look so calm, she almost fell out from her question for a bit, nervously looking through her cards. It looked as if she wasn't expecting this answer at all, but tried to cope nevertheless. _"You make me jealous, but now tell me, how does it work for you?"_

_"It was a really old fling, starting like a punch, even felt like one. Not too long ago it came back in my way and this time I have my chance to form it into something."_ Nero seemingly enjoyed playing the teaser role and he did damn well.

I let out a grunt, 'old fling' my ass. And as my memory serves me when we met it wasn't a punch, it was a kick. A good one. With your damn feet, you punk.

_"That was a bit mysterious don't you think?" _

Nero just reassuringly grinned harder.

"My, he's such a sweetie, I'm really glad he's into you." Trish grabbed a warm slice of pizza and bit it with some kind of eager force, like if she was trying to hide what she just actually said. I heard it, clean as this box will be if I get the last slice.

"Whatcha' say?" Turning my gaze away from the screen I leaned in for another slice, just to earn a suspicious chuckle.

"Nothing, just stating the obvious." Her light blue eyes were shining with glee, it almost scared me. She shouldn't be this happy about my relationship with the kid. "I mean, what I found this morning was obvious." She'll forever bring up that she walked in before Nero and me woke up and found clothes scattered all over the place. I really need to lock that door at night.

"How's Lady?" I decided it was a great counter from me, fixing my eyes on Nero again who was happily blabbering about his hours in the studio.

"She'll live, sending her regards."

"Nice…" I wanted to give up the conversation because my ears snatched some words from the ongoing show, something like dance classes and dancers. It was so damn obvious what was she asking him about. For my biggest surprise they even cut in a replay of that part of the concert where Nero got trapped between those two guys, one surely Matt though the dancer was a question.

I noticed just now how he actually played along in the close-up: Nero tugged on the guy's jeans, in response Matt threw his head back. I could easy figure out that he was taking it too far. But it really pissed me off that I could just hear that small little moan lingering between them. My demon side felt scandalized, letting out a low growl, making my blood boil. To be honest the more I saw of this guy the more I wanted to keep him just enough away from Nero so that I can assert that… What exactly? That I was considered - or want to be - his boyfriend or so to say?

And then they showed Nero again, sitting there a little uncomfortably, his cheeks flaring up with a deep red blush, his human hand playing with his hair and scratched his nose. He was just too damn adorable.

"It's not a death threat, don't worry." Trish pouted, taking a sip from her beer then continued. "Now pay attention, Liz will pull out some task on him"

"Task? What kind of show are we watching, Trish?" It was a nice indication that I want to be informed about the things will happen to my – to Nero.

"It's a popular one, the guest comes, answers a few question and before they leave they do something slightly embarrassing or cute or scandalous, depends-" Trish shrugged, tapping a little song on the beer can with her vicious nails.

That wasn't a good sign.

_"So, before we go on a small break, I'll inform you about today's challenge. Let the drums roll please."_ As the host looked into her cards the camera cut to the show's live band where the drummer created a nice build up with the drumming getting tense each second.

_"Our viewers voted all this time what we should give you as a task, and the result is…"_ Nero frowned, looking anxious. _"It's your task to pick someone and sing them something, surprise them."_

_"Well Liz, I didn't expect that…"_ Nero looked away from the camera, his gaze obviously looking for someone in the back.

_"Hey, at least they didn't give you the bad ones, look." _The woman showed him the card she was holding and for a second Nero seemed a bit paler than before.

_"Uh, alright, so uh, I get a break now? I'll have to get my head together." _He scratched his nose nervously,

_"We're coming back!"_ And with that the camera quickly rolled out from the screen, switching to commercials.

"Serenading?" I eyed the woman next to me suspiciously.

"Just a show, Dante. They don't take it seriously." She chuckled and got up then, strolling towards the bathroom.

"Yeah, sure I won't. Why would I? He didn't look uncomfortable at all!" I huffed, following her way from the corner of my eyes.

"Is that jealousy in your voice?" Trish turned around, with a smug grin on her face.

* * *

_Nero's PV_

I knew it was something Norenat set up for me, so I shouldn't even be surprised at all. My feet carried me backstage where I nervously ran circles around the water stall. I had literally no idea what to do, the only thing that seemed reasonable is that I should talk to the band, they might be helpful, and we had ten minutes tops. Talking to them wasn't on my priority list, or to anyone at all so what you do when you want to seem busy? Act like you have a phone call. I ran my hand trough my pockets, looking for my phone.

I bit my lip while the phone connected, letting out a too quick "Hey" when greeting the person on the other side.

" Evenin' kid." For some reason I expected him to be busy, actually I wanted that the phone will give me the busy tone. Why did I actually call him exactly?

"I was just uh… I'm on a break now and I remembered that you asked me about later and –"

"I know." Before my slow brain was there to finish the thing I wanted to say Dante interrupted me, making me confused for a second.

"You're watching?" I held my phone closer to my ear as I heard Norenat passing behind me.

"Yes." These short answers annoyed the hell out of me.

"Huh, are you sure that only your coworkers follow the media?… Though I hope I didn't say too much."

"About what?" His voice said nothing but he was teasing me, I knew he got what I meant. It was obvious and everything now should be obvious but no, the old man has to play.

"You know it's like… I've been wondering since morning." I scratched the back of my head. What was the exact point of this conversation in my head? No idea.

"Tell me." He's annoying me again.

"So are we like… dating?" This sounds so awful even on phone.

"Well, I don't remember any dates we had," Dante laughed, seeming really interested with my reactions. Just, _god damn it._

"There isn't a relationship type called 'nearly fucked'." I tried to hold down my voice, no one has any business with this conversation. My intentions were keeping it low but I could feel the annoying red blush setting on my face, so I turned away from the people who were nearby, focusing on a wall with big interest.

"Well we can always make it to the 'yes we did' stage." Dante sniggered on the other side of the line, bringing me back to the conversation. His voice had some kind of husky tone which wasn't helping the situation, nor did the heavy clouds in my head which were both frustrated and getting really tired with this already.

"Damn, old man." I let out a huff, but somehow the side of my mouth quirked up, and I couldn't suppress a chuckle.

"Hey, don't sweat it, okay? _I like you_ and your stubborn ass." That was a whole different tone from the old man, a bit unnerving, but somehow, it still sounded like a caress. Though I have no idea why 'stubborn ass' sounded nice at all but I didn't really expect heavy sweet talk from him. "So yeah, don't think I won't take you and, uh, _us_ seriously, because then I'll be the one who'll make you blush a pretty pink, kid." I could hear the wide smile on his face right now, he's so predictable.

That however sounded nice. I was playing with my free hand now, trying to calm down that irrationally fast pace that my heart picked up. It was… silly but 'us' sounded awkwardly sweet. And I was happy that I didn't get to say this out loud, one would think after my songs speaking about feelings and such goes easily but quite the opposite actually.

"Right – me too." I replied finally after a minute. I heard Dante exhale slowly, looks like he isn't as calm as I expected him to be. Even a guy like him had to collect his guts for this, eh?

"Great, now that we talked this over, make yourself free tomorrow."

* * *

**AN**: my god this was such a thing to me to write I stayed up for like 5 in the morning to write and stuff so yeah guys keep them reviews coming!


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